One More Night, One More Time
by PDJxOFederer15
Summary: Sequel to Thanks For The Memories. Chris and Penny are on their senior year and their relationship is being put to the test. ChrisxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Title: One more Night, One more Time**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Stand By Me or the body, just the OC's. And if I do, then it won't be necessary for me to write here in the first place.**

Chapter 1

It's been two years from now since Penny started dating Chris. They're already seniors and have started planning for College. Nothing really changed except for the fact that Eyeball moved out and no one heard of him anymore. The Cobras were in jail. Well, some of them. And Roger moved away a year ago to continue his College somewhere where no one knows. And maybe soon, Johnny will be the next one to leave. Leaving Penny alone with her mother. Johnny advised about her senior year. She and Chris still haven't discussed about College. She wasn't sure if things will still work out in College. And maybe even in their Senior year.

"Shit! Shit, I'm late." Penny said, quickly grabbing her bag and ran down the stairs. She grabbed a piece of toast and car keys. She left the house and drove the car, forgetting about the speed limit. She arrived in school less than ten minutes. She parked the car, got down and entered the hallway, straight to her locker. Her locker was transferred since last year. It was now where Johnny's locker was.

She got some books for class. She slammed the door and saw Chris leaning against a locker.

"Hey, Chris." She greeted, catching her breath and was on a rush.

"Woah, hey, what's with the rush?" he asked.

"Oh, God, Chris. You see, I got a lot on my mind lately. And I have to finish this crappy school stuff." She said, bringing out some folders and manila envelopes.

"Penny, relax. Breathe." He said, placing his hands on her shoulders. He kissed her gently, letting her feel his tongue.

"Damn, would you two do that somewhere else?" Teddy said, approaching them with Jadey.

"Yeah, quit the PDA." Jadey said.

"Well, look who's talkin'." Chris said, his arm around Penny. "I'm just trying to make her relax."

"Yeah, Penny. Maybe you really should relax." Jadey said.

"Yeah, you're right." Penny said, and nodded.

First period started but Penny had a different schedule from her friends. And a twisted one, too. Penny's last period before lunch was Gym. They had soccer. Like her brothers, Penny loved soccer.

*---*

Chris just got his tray of food and was looking around for a sign of Penny but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Chris. Where's Penny?" Roma asked.

"Damn, I don't know. She must be still in Gym class." He said.

"Until now?"

"I guess."

"Don't worry, man. She'll be coming." Gordie said, and tapped his shoulder.

*---*

Penny just finished playing soccer. She was going to enter the Girls' Lockers when a guy bumped into her.

"Hi, I'm Stan." The guy said, and raised his hand to shake hands with her. He was dressed in a soccer uniform.

"Er, Penny." She said, tensed. "I have to go. See you around."

And she left to take a five minute shower. She wore her pairs of jeans, blouse and sneakers and bag and left the lockers.

"I saw you play soccer a while ago." Stan said, while he was walking with her to the cafeteria. "And you're really good."

"Oh, thanks." She said, and smiled. Stan just turned red and asked,

"Do you wanna have lunch with me?"

"Sorry, I'm going with someone." She said, and quickly walked to get food. She looked around for Gordie's table and found it. Chris was looking at her seriously making her feel awkward.

"Okay, well, I'll just see you around then." He said, and went to a table where his football friends started teasing him and just kept laughing.

"Sorry, I'm late, guys." She said, and sat down in front of Chris.

"Who was that guy you were talking to?" he asked.

"Some guy from the Soccer team. I think Johnny knows him."

"What did he say to you?" Roma asked.

"Well, just something about playing soccer and stuff like that."

"How long could you guys talk?" he said, impatiently and looked at his watch.

"C'mon, Chris. I just bumped into him." She explained, and held his hand while he just looked away. She pulled back her hand and looked down and started eating.

"Chill, man." Gordie whispered to Chris. He just nodded and looked at Penny.

"Okay, sorry, Pen." He said to her, but she just nodded without looking up.

*---*

Johnny was driving on the road after class. He graduated and was now on his 2nd year of College. The sun was setting and was passing by High School when he saw a familiar guy walking.

"Hey. Stanley? Or should I call you Stan?" he said, as he stopped by him and pointed at this tall, tan-skinned, messy jet black haired half-Spanish boy.

"Yeah. What's up, Johnny?" he greeted, and shook hands with him.

"Great. How's football?" Johnny asked. When Johnny was still a senior, he saw Stan tryout for the team and he was really good.

"Awesome. Penny's your sister right?" he asked, turning red.

"Yeah, she plays a little soccer, too but not very often. And don't think about it, man. She's taken." Johnny said, cutting him off before he could say something.

"Well, I guess you read my mind." Stan joked. "I better get going, man. See you around."

"Yeah, see you." Johnny said, and left. Stan walked to his car where his football friends were waiting. He looked around and saw Penny walking to her car with Chris.

"So, she's dating that Chambers boy." He said to his friends.

"I didn't know some girl would date him." His friend said.

"Yeah, and Connors' sister too." Said another, referring to Johnny. Stan just ignored his friends' comments and looked at the car leave the school parking lot.

*---*

Penny was in Johnny's room and talking about family stuff after dinner.

"So, is it true that you heard that mom's dating someone?" Penny asked Johnny. They were both sitting on his bed with a pillow between them.

"Yeah, I'm sure. And you'd also notice how happy mom is." He said.

"Yeah. Well, I thought that she promised us that she won't remarry."

"I know. But she just can't keep it. I mean, sooner or later I'll be moving out. Then you're next. We can't just leave her all alone." Johnny explained.

"I guess you're right. And speaking of moving out, I thought you wanted the Industries." She asked.

"I do. That's why when I have it, I'll expand it. And besides, Heather and I will be getting married after College. We'll be moving out." He said, thinking about all his great plans for the Industries.

"Are you guys sure you can handle getting married right after College?" she asked, doubtfully.

"Well, give us a year or two." He assured her. "Trust me."

"Sure, I will. I kind of miss Roge." She said, sadly.

"I understand, Pen." He said, and gave her a hug.

"Okay, thanks." She chuckled. "I bet you know this guy named "Stan"."

"Yeah, I saw him on the street this afternoon. And don't worry, I got my eyes on him." He said.

"Yeah, great." She said, and stood by his door. "Good night, bro."

**Hey y'all! PDJ's back. As promised, here's the sequel to Thanks For the Memories. I hope you like it. Merry Christmas, guys! Soo, uh, you wanna do it now? As in, uh, REVIEW? And BTW, does anybody here who's a football fan, like Cristiano Ronaldo or Kaka? **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Damn it, Chris! You're the one who should listen." Penny yelled angrily, while walking on the hallways. She and Chris have had some arguments for a week already. Chris had been wanting to do some 'therapy' and dates with Penny but she had a lot of plans this week. But Chris had been thinking that she's been ditching him.

"Listen? You're the one whose been ditching me in the first place!" Chris said, catching up after her and pulled her arm.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not ditching you?! If you won't believe me, then that's your problem." She said.

"Do you even remember the last time we talked?" he asked.

"Yes, I do! And it's always that every time we talk, we end up doing some sexual activity."

"Don't you want that? At least I give it to you!" he said and placed his hands on her waist, restraining her from walking away.

"I didn't say that I don't want it. 'Cause you do!"

"So, you don't want to do it?"

"I didn't say anything like that. I-"

"No, so you don't want to do it?" he cut her off.

"Chris, listen I-"

But he interrupted her by kissing her and pushing her on the wall. Good thing there weren't any hallway monitors or students passing by.

"See? You don't wanna do it! We've been doing it for two years now and you're not even good at it yet."

"I just-"

"Hey, would you keep it down?" a janitor said, who passed by and mopped the floors and just ignored them. Chris pulled Penny's hand and brought her near the bathroom. They weren't yelling at each other anymore. Penny won't even look at him in the eye.

"Penny, you don't have to explain. I guess this is just not working out." He said, and breathed heavily.

"I guess it's not." She admitted.

"I think we should take some time out." He said.

"Yeah, you're right."

They both decided to separate for a while to sort things out.

*---*

"You guys are on a time out?" Jadey asked surprisingly. It's been a couple of weeks since they had their time out and they seldom talk to each other. Penny closed her locker and bumped her head on it and said,

"It's been a couple of weeks already."

"Well, I think it's a good idea. You guys fight like a married couple." Said Jadey.

"Yeah. I just miss him. He's kind of frustrated at me because I keep complaining when we're about to do it." Penny explained.

"I guess why. Anyway, who was that guy you were talking to in the field?"

"Oh, that was Stan Van Der Bolt. My brother knows him."

"And he's the one who talked to me." Penny added, before Jadey thinks of something else.

"Is he cute?"

"Well, sort of. But c'mon, I'm not into him."

"Haha, you should've seen how he looked at you. He's kind of sweet, you know." Jadey said.

"Wait, so you were checking us out?"

Jadey just shrugged and said,

"You're on a time out remember?" And she left for her next class.

*---*

"You just need to get the heat off you, man." Gordie said to Chris, while they were having lunch. Chris suddenly looked down when Penny passed by with her friends.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, man." He said, when he looked up. "I think we're both stressed out."

"And so am I." Teddy suddenly said, and sat with them. Gordie looked at Teddy, who was red and really angry. "I hate that stupid Math teacher."

"Oh, so you're flanking Math?" Gordie figured out.

"Yeah, Mr. Hamilton was a real bitch. He already gave me a letter."

"A letter? Let me see it." Gordie said.

"Nah. I threw that piece of shit in the bin." Teddy said. "But it says that I have to do something about it or else I won't be able to graduate."

"Well, why don't you ask help from your girlfriend?" Gordie suggested.

"Yeah, I did. We're gonna have a study date later." Teddy said.

"Are you sure you guys are gonna study or do something else?"

"Whatever, man." Teddy said, rolling his eyes and started eating.

"It seems that you guys are all stressed out, huh?" Vern said, approaching their table.

"Football practice was hell." He said, and devoured his sandwich.

"What's wrong? Couldn't run after the ball? Oh, wait, you are the ball." Teddy teased him and laughed.

"Shut up, Teddy. It's this player named Stan. He's such a show-off."

Chris looked up when Vern mentioned Stan. He knew that Stan had been talking to Penny before. The boys all talked about their problems. They were all stressed out except for Gordie. So Gordie planned to hang out with the guys tomorrow night, which is a Friday.

Meanwhile, the girls were discussing their issues too.

"Did Stan say anything?" Jadey asked Penny, who was playing with her food.

"No, I don't really talk to him."

"Liar. I saw him coming after you after Gym class a while ago." Jadey said. "What did he say to you?"

"Why is it that you always see us talking? Are you a spy or what?" Penny asked.

"C'mon, Penny. Maybe I just need to work out on my timing. But I think I did a pretty good job."

"Well, I didn't even know what he said. All I kept saying was 'Yeah, sure' and I won't even look at him."

"Why didn't you listen to him?" Jadey said, frustratingly.

"Yeah. What if he asked to be his girlfriend, or go out with him or worse, to do something else!" Roma said.

"He wouldn't ask me anything like that. Oh, no, what if I did say 'yes' to something else?" she said, worriedly.

Stan suddenly passed by their table looking all muddy and sweaty, holding a soccer ball.

"Hey, Penny. See you on the field tomorrow." He said.

"What? Why?" she asked, sounding clueless.

"You agreed to play soccer with me, remember?" he said.

"Oh, right. Well, okay, see you." She said, unsure and looked at her friends, while Stan walked away.

"So, that's what I said 'yes' to." She figured out. "But I don't wanna go."

"C'mon, Pen. You already said 'yes' to him. It's not that bad at all. You guys are just going to play." Roma said. "Not to mention with a popular guy."

"Yeah, you want us to secretly watch you guys? We'll stay in the bleachers." Jadey suggested.

"Yeah, sure. But isn't that too boring for you guys?"

"Well, we'll be watching the two of you in case something goes wrong." Roma said.

"Okay, thanks, guys." Penny said, and looked guiltily over at Chris's table.

"Don't think about _that_, Penny." Jadey said, when she noticed who Penny was looking at.

*---*

Penny was sitting on her desk in Chemistry class. She was waiting for her lab partner when a different guy showed up. It was Chris. He sat down beside her without even looking. She looked at him curiously and the class begun.

During class, Penny was curious why Chris was her new lab partner. When their experiment began, she asked him,

"How did you become my new lab partner?"

"My schedule got changed." He said, while pouring the chemicals. Penny just tried to forget about it.

"So, what have you been doing lately?" she asked him, while writing down her experiment.

"I'm gonna hang out with Gordie tomorrow night. How 'bout you?"

"Nothing. Just play soccer and hang with my brother and his friends." She said. The bell rang which meant that class is done. "Hey, could you-"

But Chris had already took his stuff and left class. Penny felt pissed since she had to clean all their mess.

"You could've said goodbye." She yelled, when he was gone. And it made everyone look at her.

*---*

"They all stared at you?" Jadey asked Penny, after class.

"Yeah. I don't know the hell why he walked out." Penny said.

"Do you think he knows about the Stan thing?" Jadey asked.

"Well, I hope not. There are a lot of gossip girls here." Penny said.

"Yeah, well, I have to go. I have a study date with Teddy." Jadey said, and went another way.

Penny packed her stuff back and left school, thinking about her issues with Chris. Things still haven't worked out and he's getting on her nerves. Friday came, and the boys had planned to hang out.

"Hey, look, Chris is almost drunk!" Teddy joked, and took his second bottle.

"Hey, Chris, slowly, that's your fifth." Gordie said, and sipped from his bottle.

"Relax, Gordie. I'm fine." He slurred. He finished his bottle and got another one.

"Oh, he is drunk." Vern declared, and made a face when he tasted his beer. Chris stood up, walking improperly, and approached this girl in the bar, who was looking at him, and started to flirt with her.

"Chris, come back here!" Gordie said, and pulled him back.

"No, Gordo, let go!" He said.

"Teddy, help me here." Gordie said, holding Chris by the arms.

"Chris, stop it!" Teddy said, and held him by the arm and slightly slapped him.

"Okay, let him sit down." Gordie said.

"Hey, you killjoys! We were just going to make out." He said.

"Chris, stop it! You have a girlfriend." Gordie reminded him.

Gordie decided to take Chris home in his house. He brought Chris to his car. They arrived home almost midnight. Luckily, Gordie's parents weren't home. He brought Chris to his bedroom. Chris sat on Gordie's bed, still drunk. Gordie splashed some water on him but it didn't work.

"What the fuck was that for?" Chris said, sounding drowsy.

"Chris, would you snap out of it! What is wrong with you, man?"

"She doesn't want me. She keeps hanging out with that soccer douche bag." Chris said, and kept saying Penny's name.

"No, Chris. She's your girlfriend. What happened to you guys?"

"All the time…I keep demanding her to have sex with me. And she doesn't want to. All I want is to spend College with her." Chris said, starting to cry.

Gordie just comforted him and kept saying it's gonna be okay. He just listened to all the problems he'd been blurting out . A few hours, Chris dozed off and so did Gordie. The two best buds were together like when they were just twelve.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chris woke up in the morning, his head still aching and feeling dizzy. He sat up and saw Gordie brushing his teeth.

"What happened, man?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You got drunk last night and you spilled to me all your secrets." Gordie said, and went out of the bathroom.

"I did? How much have you heard?"

"A lot." Gordie said. And Chris looked down, disappointed. "It's okay, man. I understand what you're going through."

"You do?"

"Yeah, and you just need to be man enough to face it."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Yeah, and this time, you should talk to her and sort things out like a man!"

"Yeah, and we'll be together again!" Chris said, and stood bravely. He was now planning to being back again with Penny.

Penny was hanging out with Johnny, her older brother in his car while after cleaning it, and having some soda.

"What happened to you?" Penny asked him.

"It's hard not seeing Heather." He said, and sipped from his Dr. Pepper soda.

"I see. Chris and I are on a time out." She said.

"I knew that would happen to you two." Johnny said.

"Great, you knew this all along." Penny said, expecting him to have told her earlier.

"So, what happened to your date with Stanley?" he asked, changing the subject. "I have to tell you, just because you are on a time out, doesn't mean that you can cheat on him."

"That wasn't a date! And I wasn't cheating on him!" she protested, and spat some soda from her mouth on the street.

"Well, whatever. I heard that Stan had been telling everyone about it." Johnny said. "He's getting pretty annoying."

"Well, try to stop him. I know he'll follow you." Penny said, irritated.

*---*

Monday came, and Penny had to face another challenge. She realized that time moved so fast and graduation comes. But she had to fix things with Chris. She thought about talking to him, she turned around to find him but a guy blocked her.

"Good morning, Penny." Stan greeted her. He looked different today. He wore brand new Adidas warm-ups, cross trainers, and a matching jacket. His hair was always jet black and messy.

"Hi, Stan. How's it going?" She greeted him, dully.

"I'm great. Hey, do you wanna-" he said, but Penny wasn't listening to him. She was looking around for Chris but she lost him.

"Stan, I'll talk to you later." She said.

"Wanna hang out with me?" he said, quickly, blocking her.

"But we just played last Friday."

"Yeah, I know. But, don't you wanna play again?"

"Well…" she thought. Though, she considered it fun to hang out with Stan since he was good in playing like her and he's really funny, especially last Friday. But just as friends, she thought. "Sure."

"Great. See you later!" he said, turning red and walked away.

*---*

"Are you ready to do this, man?" Gordie asked, sounding like a football coach.

"Yeah!" Chris replied. He planned to ask Penny after school and hang out with her and his friends after that.

"Do you even know where she is?" Gordie asked.

"No, but I think I'll find her." Chris said.

"Well, good luck with whatever happens." Gordie said, as Chris left the hallway to find Penny. She was on the field, playing with Stan, while her friends were watching her from the bleachers. Chris heard someone yelling and playing and he couldn't help but check out who it was. He looked from a distance and his heart sank. Penny was playing with Stan and about to kick a ball to him. He just quickly gave up and walked away, angrily.

"Was that Chris?" Roma observed from afar. Jadey looked up and saw Chris, in his faded jeans, and blue buttoned up shirt.

"Yeah, it is. And he looks mad. Do you think he saw Penny and Stan?" Jadey asked.

"Yeah, maybe. He was looking at their direction. We should tell Penny."

"I don't know, Roma. What if she gets mad?" Jadey said.

"No, she won't. Maybe Chris will be, but, she could just explain."

"Yeah, you're right. They're almost done playing, I think."

Stan and Penny were laughing after the game, as he was almost hit by the ball.

"That was fun, Pen." Stan said, and placed his arm around Penny's shoulder. Penny felt awkward and shrugged his arm off by walking faster.

"Yeah, well, thanks, Stan." She said, and smiled. "I should go. See you later."

"Yeah, me too." He said, and tapped her shoulder. They both walked in different directions as Stan had to return the ball and Penny approached her friends.

"Hey, guys. We're done." She said, while climbing up the bleachers.

"Well, good. 'Cause you need to explain it to him." Roma said, packing her stuff.

"What do you mean? Who's him?" Penny asked.

"We saw Chris. And we think he saw the two of you." Jadey said.

"Did he look mad?" Penny asked, nervously.

"Well, we don't know how to read him. You better catch up with him and explain." Roma said.

"Yeah, I will, thanks, bye." Penny said, and climbed down.

"Wait, before you go, you need to change." Jadey said, and handed her some clothes.

"Thanks." She said, and grabbed the clothes and climbed down the bleachers. She left for the Girls' Lockers and quickly changed her clothes. While walking down the hallways, she saw Chris leaning near the Restroom door.

"Chris, we need to talk." She said, catching up after him.

"What do you want?" he said.

"I thought that's what you want, to talk about things." She said. "And I need to explain."

"You don't have to explain anything. I don't trust you anymore." He said, and walked away.

"No, Chris. You can't say that. You don't even know what happened down there." She said, and held his arm.

"Then what happened?!" he yelled, and jerked his arm away.

"Stan was just teaching me how to play. And you know we're just friends." She explained. "Why? Are you jealous?"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. I could see the look on your face. And don't deny it, because you know I'm the only person who could read you. So, could you just tell me what's wrong?" Penny demanded.

"Okay, the truth is, I want you back." Chris said, calmly.

"You do?"

"Yes, Penny. And I know that this time, we can do better." Chris said, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her to the walls. "I still trust you, Penny."

"Well, I do to." She said, and placed her hands on his cheeks and kissed him. She missed the taste of his tongue and she wanted it one more time. She felt Chris kiss her back and felt his tongue on hers. They both pulled away and grinned sheepishly.

"Wow, I haven't had that for a long time." Chris said.

"Yeah, me either." Penny said. And right now, she was happily thinking of her, back again with Chris from their time out.

"And I was planning to hang out together with the guys." Chris said, while they were walking together on the hallway, his arm around her.

"Well, sure we can. Wait, guys, as in you mean with their girlfriends?"

"Yeah, that'd be like, triple dating." He said, and smirked at Penny.

"How about Vern-o?"

"I gotta tell you, he and his girlfriend have different plans."

"Oh, so it's a plan. Triple dating tomorrow night." Penny declared. The two of them saw Teddy come out of the Math classroom looking so happy. He approached Penny and Chris and said,

"Guys, I passed!" He said, excitedly.

"Really? That's great, man. What kind of cheating technique did you use?" Chris asked, sarcastically.

"I didn't cheat, Chris. Jadey's study date worked!" he said.

"Great, man. So, to celebrate, wanna take your girlfriend tomorrow night? We're gonna have triple dating by the bar." Chris invited him.

"What do you mean 'triple dating'?" he asked.

"Penny and I are coming, so is Gordie and Roma and you with your girlfriend." Chris explained.

"Well, okay. What made you think to go back with Pen?" Teddy asked.

"Man stuff and inspirations. You don't understand." Chris said. "We'll see you tomorrow night."

"Yeah!" Teddy yelled back. He was already at the end of hallway and was about to leave.

Penny still couldn't get over the fact that she and Chris are back together. Suddenly, something popped into her mind to ask him something.

"Chris, about the other week, how did your schedule change?" she asked him.

"Well, I asked them to change my schedule." He said.

"Why?"

"Because I miss you." He said, and kissed her cheek.

"Well, I miss you too." She said.

"Don't worry, we'll take time to do all stuff we couldn't do for a long time." Chris said.

"What is that?" She asked.

"Like, you know, making out and stuff like that." He said.

"Oh, right." Penny said, hesitatingly. She was still not in the mood of making out or having sex with him. Not because she didn't want Chris. She was just curious why she didn't want to do it. Was it the fact that she didn't want him anymore? But she still did. Or maybe she's scared. But, scared about what? She won't be pregnant or anything because they're protected. There were a lot things Penny had to figure out. And she better figure it out quick since time moves faster than her. And she still had to discuss about College with Chris.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Penny came with her friends to the bar where they planned to hang out with the boys. The girls were all dressed in their jeans and sneakers. It was already seven pm.

"I'm so glad that you guys are back." Roma said, while crossing the street.

"Yeah, and the fact that Teddy did well in Math because of our study date was awesome." Jadey said, and squealed. They arrived at the entrance where a person asks you if you're already eighteen and above. The girls said that they were eighteen so they were allowed to enter. They saw the boys sitting on the table and ordered a bucket of beer. But it was only Gordie and Teddy.

"Where's Chris?" Penny asked, as the girls sat with them.

"Probably taking time to get ready." Teddy said, and opened his first bottle.

"Don't worry, Penny. He'll come." Gordie said. After a few minutes, Chris still didn't show up. Penny started to feel like a loner and out of place. She still kept thinking that he will come. Maybe he was just stuck in the traffic. But it was Tuesday and his house was near the bar. He could've just walked if it was traffic. An hour passed, and Penny started to feel impatient. He wasn't really gonna come.

"Aw, Pen. I'm sorry." Jadey said, and sat beside her.

"It's okay. Maybe he's busy or something." Penny said.

"But he planned this all along. He can't just ditch you." Jadey said.

"Yeah, but maybe he has a good explanation for this." Penny said.

"Well, he better have one." Jadey said, and looked around. She suddenly saw Stan enter the bar with his soccer friends. Some of his friends had a girl with them but Stan didn't. "I guess Stan's gonna be the hero this time."

"What?"

"Look, Penny, it's Stan." Jadey said. Penny looked around and saw him laughing with his friends and ordered for a bucket of beer. The two of them caught each other's eyes but Penny quickly looked away. Stan stood up from the table and Jadey noticed that he was coming here. "He's coming. Good luck with him."

"Why so lonely, Penny?" he asked, and sat beside her.

"Chris won't be able to come." She said, and looked at him. He looked hot though. He wore loose and dark jeans and his Adidas jacket, accompanied by his messy hair.

"You want me to accompany you?" he asked, hoping for her to say 'yes'."

"Thanks, Stan. But you probably wanna hang out with your friends instead." She said.

"No, really, it's okay. My friends have their girlfriends with them." Stan said, and held Penny's hands.

"I don't know, Stan." Penny said, awkwardly and pulled her hands away from his and brushed away her bangs.

"Don't worry, Penny. It'll be fine." He said, and handed her a bottle of beer. She opened it quickly and took a sip and so did Stan, and looked up and smiled at him.

"So, Stan, tell me something about you." Penny said.

"Well, as you know, I'm Stanley Van Der Bolt. My mom's Spanish but my dad's American. We used to live in LA when I was little then we moved here when I was thirteen."

"Why'd you move here?" Penny asked.

"Because, my dad didn't like working too much in the city. But after College, we might go back." He said.

"Where are you gonna have College?"

"I'm not really sure, exactly. My dad wanted me to go to Yale but my mom said that she didn't want me to stay in a Dorm."

"What does your dad do for a living?"

"We own the VanBolt Inc."

"Well, my dad owns Connors' Industries. But my mom runs it." Penny said.

"Really? That's great. Where's your dad?"

"He died a few years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Penny said, and placed her hand on his hair and played with it, making Stan turn red.

"Enough about me. How about you, Jamie Penny Dean Connors?" he asked.

"Well, I haven't told this to anyone, but, I was born in Missouri but we moved here when I was three months old." Penny said. Stan was one of the people she told about where she was born. Only Jadey and Roma knew about it. She'd never told it to Chris.

"So, what happened to the Industries?"

"Well, when I was little, my dad always travels and my mom doesn't like him doing that, and when he came home, he told us that he was sick. So, he knew that he had days left so he told us what should we do, now and in the future. He's the reason why Johnny tried out for the team."

"Your dad's…wise. So, who gets the Industries?"

"Well, he wrote it to Roger because he's the favorite but Roger gave it to Johnny because he didn't want it."

"Why didn't he want it?"

"Because he wanted a different future. Like, join Chelsea Football Team."

"Well, me too. But I have no choice because I'm an only child."

"Okay, so, I think we know a lot of stuff about each other." Penny said, and placed her hands on Stan's hair and played with it. "Your hair's so fun to play with."

"Really?" Stan said, laughing. Penny suddenly took hold of Stan's hands and rubbed them with hers. Stan looked at her confusingly and smiled.

"Is it okay for me to do that?" Penny asked.

"Yeah." He said.

"Are you two having fun?" Jadey asked, from behind. Penny looked behind and gave her a don't-disturb-us-look. A few hours passed and it was almost twelve o'clock. Penny and Stan left the bar and they stood facing each other outside.

"I really had a great time, Pen." Stan said, ignoring his friends, who were calling him.

"Me, too. Thanks for telling me stuff. That was fun." Penny said, and looked at Stan's friends behind him. "Well, I guess you better go. Good night, Stan."

"Good night, Penny." He said, and walked to his friends and waved for the last time before they entered the van. Penny met up with Jadey and Roma who were impatiently waiting for her.

"Hey, guys. Let's go." Penny said, as they were about to cross the street again.

"Well, what happened with Stan?" Roma asked.

"Fine. We told a lot of stuff about each other. And, he's the third person I told where I was born." Penny said.

"You told him about the Missouri thingy?" Jadey asked, surprised.

"Yeah, but, come on, guys, it's not a big deal. It's just Missouri." Penny said.

"Yeah, but, the fact that your own boyfriend doesn't know that." Roma said.

"Well, he's just my boyfriend, not my husband, so what's the big deal?" Penny said, almost getting irritated.

"Nothing. So, you're saying that he's _just_ your boyfriend. That's very different of you, Penny." Jadey said.

"Well, I hope you and Chris would still stay strong." Roma said.

"Yeah, me too." Penny said, hoping for it.

*---*

Chris arrived to school, looking nervous and had a couple of bruises on his upper arm and on his back, but was covered by his black buttoned up shirt. He quickly approached Gordie, who was preparing his stuff for class.

"Hey, Gordie." He said, and leaned beside his locker.

"What happened to you, Chris?" Gordie asked, a bit irritated.

"Sorry, I couldn't come. I had to deal with my old man." Chris explained, referring to his dad.

"Well, it's okay." Gordie said, and looked behind Chris and saw Penny arriving to school. "And don't explain to me, explain to your girlfriend."

"Is she mad?" Chris asked.

"No, she's not. She just got upset and felt all alone the whole time." Gordie said, emphasizing his words.

"Then why didn't you guys try to talk to her or something?" Chris said, almost mad.

"Because we're supposed to be triple dating! And don't worry, good thing her friends are there for her."

"Well, I'm sorry. And don't blame me, blame my dad."

"It's alright, man. Just talk to Penny." Gordie said. And Chris left to Penny's locker. She was taking out her stuff and fixing her hair.

"Hey, Penny." Chris said, and stood by her locker.

"Good morning, Chris." Penny said, not even looking at him.

"Listen, Penny, I'm sorry I wasn't able to come last night, I had to deal with my dad." He explained. Penny faced him, and she was in cargo pants, and a black zip up shirt.

"It's okay, Chris. I understand." She said, a bit convinced of his reason.

"Listen, I'll try to make up for it." he said.

"How?"

"Well, after school, come with me." He said, as soon as the bell rang. Penny just nodded and he winked at her as he left for class. After class, Penny had to consult her friends on what to do. She approached Jadey and Roma who just got food and reserved a table for all of them, including the boys.

"Do you think it's a good reason?" Penny asked Jadey.

"Well, it depends if he's telling the truth." Jadey said, and wiped the edge of her lips.

"Well, I haven't seen any proof of it yet."

"Then ask him to show you." Roma suggested.

"Yeah, right. I'll do it in Chemistry or when he makes up for it."

"What are you guys gonna do?" Jadey asked.

"I don't know. He just said to meet up with him after school and he'll make up for our date." Penny said.

"Good luck with that. And, change the topic. The boys are coming." Jadey said, and gulped from her sandwich.

*---*

After school, Penny packed all her stuff and looked for Chris. It was hard to find him because he didn't attend Chemistry class, where he was her new lab partner. She saw him by the parking lot, waiting for her.

"Hi, Chris." She said, and approached him.

"You made it. Come with me." Chris said, and pulled her hand going somewhere. He brought her near an industrial corner where nobody could see you. And Chris slowly pushed Penny on the wall, and kissed her. It was his plan all along to make out with Penny, but as soon it took longer, he didn't feel it. Penny kissed him back but he was quicker than her. Something suddenly popped into Chris's mind. And it was something nobody could expect he would do.

"Penny, I have to tell you something." Chris said, his arms around his waist, his head tilted down.

"What is it?" Penny asked, insisting to kiss him again. "You're ruining the mood with all the talking."

"Penny, I need to break up with you." Chris said.

"What? Why? Chris, don't." Penny said, and pulled his arm back. "Why would you do that?"

"Because, I don't think this is right." Chris said, and walked away.

"Is it because of last night? Chris, I understand what happened and I'm not-"

"It's not that, Penny. I just don't feel you anymore." He said, and walked faster and left her. Penny stood still on the corner, her face blank. She asked herself, why would Chris break up with her? It was something she couldn't understand about him for the past two years when they've been dating. Things are just too complicated right now, and no one could explain.

*---*


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Penny, Jadey and Roma were having lunch on a separate table, which was across the boys' table. The boys stared at the girls and Teddy said,

"So, you broke up with her? It sounds stupid."

"Yeah, you didn't even explain it clearly." Gordie said.

"No, guys, you just don't understand." Chris said, and stared at Penny's table.

"Then if we don't understand, then tell us why did you break up with her." Gordie said.

"I did it because…because I don't trust her anymore." Chris said.

"That's it? No, there's gotta be an apparent reason for this." Gordie protested. "Is it because of Stan?"

"Speak of the devil, there he goes to their table." Teddy said, and saw Stan pass by Penny's table and talked to them. Chris looked back and saw Stan sit beside Penny, who looked sad and dull today.

"What's he doing?" Gordie asked.

"Don't ask me, you're the one who has better eyesight than I do." Teddy said. "Oh, look he's drinking from Penny's glass."

Chris looked back again and saw Stan drinking from Penny's water and his arm near her. Chris stood up quickly and said,

"I can't take a look at this anymore." And walked away from the cafeteria before he sees something he doesn't want to see.

"You're upset." Stan said to Penny, who wasn't talking the whole time.

"Well, yeah, of course she is." Roma said.

"Why? What happened?" Stan asked.

"Because, from this day on, Penny's already considered 'single'." Jadey explained. Penny just looked down, trying to forget about what happened yesterday but it keeps coming back. Stan just comforted her, until his friends called him. He stood up and said,

"Well, Penny, I'm sorry for what happened." He said, and unexpectedly, kissed her cheek, and ran to his friends, who were howling and laughing at him.

"What did he just do to you?" Roma asked, surprised in what she saw.

"Did he just kiss you?" Jadey said, looking disgusted. "I mean, it's okay for him to do all the talking and stuff but the kiss was below the belt."

Penny stood up and approached Stan and said,

"We need to talk, Stan." And grabbed him somewhere outside the cafeteria. She led him to a corner where nobody passes by and said,

"Stan, why did you do that? I thought we were friends."

"We are, Penny. What's wrong?" he asked.

"We're friends but you can't just kiss me like that."

"Why? Is it because you can't trust me?" Stan asked, almost mad.

"No, I didn't say that. I just meant that I don't know if you could just do that."

"Well, I'm sorry, Penny. I was just trying to make you feel better." He said, sounding hurt.

"I'm sorry, Stan. But you already did. And I guess you're right." Penny said.

"Yeah, come here." He said, and hugged her. Penny hugged him back and his lips was on her hair but she didn't feel it. And for one last time, he kissed her hair.

Penny came back to her friends' table, looking a bit better. Jadey and Roma looked like they had something important to tell Penny. But asked first about what happened.

"What did you do? Did you punch him or what?" Jadey asked.

"No, he just apologized." Penny said, and drank from her glass where Stan drank from.

"Okay, so now you wanna drink from that glass too. What happened to you?" Roma asked, disgusted.

"C'mon, guys, he's like a friend to me already. And he invited us to the game. I'm sure my brother's gonna give us the front seats again. " Penny said, and looked at Stan's table.

"Well, sure, we'll watch." Roma said.

"Yeah, so happens that Chris and the boys aren't with us." Jadey said.

*---*

Gordie left the cafeteria to look for Chris. He wasn't sure if should tell Chris about what he saw a while ago, Stan kissed Penny. He thought it could cause trouble. And Chris said it him self, he didn't feel anything for Penny anymore. Chris just came out from the restroom and leaned on a wall.

"Chris, c'mon, let's go." Gordie said. "Nothing happened, man."

"I just can't stand seeing her." Chris said, sadly.

"Hey, guys, here's some tickets for the game." Vern said, running with Teddy, who was holding three tickets. "I'm sorry I couldn't get the front ones."

"Thanks, Vern. The game's on Friday, right?" Gordie said, and handed Chris a ticket.

"Yeah, see you guys there. And I'll be the hero in the game this time." Vern said.

"Yeah, right." Teddy, doubted.

"You'll see." Vern said and left for the showers.

"Don't worry, Chris. It's gonna be okay." Gordie said, and tapped his shoulder.

"Yeah, Chris. Take it like a man!" Teddy said, and ran around the hallways, crazily. Chris didn't think it was a good idea to go to the game. But it was a tradition for them to watch the game. The only difference is Penny and the girls weren't with them. And he didn't want to see Penny, anyway.

Penny and Johnny came to the Stadium earlier for the game. Johnny was just going to substitute since he didn't want to play entirely. Penny sat on the front seats and reserved two for Roma and Jadey. Penny saw Stan climb the stairs to the front seats and sat with her. He was already in his soccer uniform, which was blue and white and his black Adidas spike shoes.

"Good luck in the game, Stan." Penny said, and played with his messy hair.

"Thanks, Pen." He said, and smiled. "I better go to my team. You'll see me later." And he stood and left at the back of the Stadium to look for his team. After a couple of minutes, people started to arrive at the Stadium and Roma and Jadey came.

"Hey, Penny, I bought some soda for all of us." Jadey said, and handed her a cherry flavored Dr. Pepper soda.

"I didn't know that Gordie was here." Roma whispered, and looked at Gordie, Chris and Teddy who were at the regular seats.

"Oh, Chris is here." Penny said, nervously.

"And what's the matter? He knows that your brother plays so of course you're here. And we could cheer for Vern too." Jadey said.

"Yeah, just not too loud." Roma said. The game soon begun after the singing of the National Anthem and the entering of the teams. The game continued when Stan's team scored the first goal, and the boys have been waiting to Vern to be the hero of the game. After half time, Vern soon got his chance. Vern got the ball and was heading across the field to score. Another opponent blocked his way but he had a better idea.

"Come on, Vern. Move your ass!" Teddy cheered, and stood up.

"GO Vern!"

Vern was on his way before the goalie when he stumbled backwards and Stan got the ball again and BAM! He gets to score again, and smiles at Penny.

"Aw, damn it, Vern! You were this close!" Teddy yelled, frustratingly.

"You're very enthusiastic, Teddy. Have you been drinking any energy drink lately?" Gordie teased, and looked at Chris, who was bored. "What's up, Chris?"

"He's getting on my nerves. He'd been smiling at Penny the whole time." Chris said.

"I know, man. But I thought you didn't like Penny anymore." Gordie asked.

"I don't. But he just can't do that." Chris said. Four minutes were added to the game before it ends. The team still has one last attempt to score. And a guy with the name Ronnie written at the back of his jersey has the ball this time. If he gets this goal, the team wins and if not, it's gonna be a tie. After one last second, Ronnie goals. And the team won. Penny got down from the seats and unto the field to her brother when Stan came and hugged her, making her jump. Her friends' eyes widened and Johnny stared at them surprisingly. Roma and Jadey planned to distract the boys by approaching Gordie and Teddy.

"Teddy! What's up?" Jadey said happily, and kissed his cheek.

"Uh-great. What happened to you?" he asked her, confusingly.

"Nothing. I'm just really happy and excited."

"That the team won?" Teddy asked confusingly.

"Yeah!" Jadey said, almost squealing.

"Well, then, stop yelling." Teddy said, irritatingly.

"Aw, why so cranky, Teddy?" Jadey asked him.

"Yeah, what happened to you guys?" Roma asked Gordie who was looking around for Chris.

"Well, I guess we all didn't have fun in the game. And Chris just walked out." Gordie said. "Where's Penny?"

"She's talking-uh-congratulating the team and her brother." Roma stammered, thinking of reasons, while Jadey hit her in the arm.

"Okay, girls, enough trying to distracting us. What is going on?" Teddy asked, seriously.

"Nothing. Nothing, right? And it's not us. It's you guys." Jadey said.

"Us? You are the ones who keep coming to us and trying to distract us from something." Teddy yelled.

"Then what do you want us to do? Then fine, I won't talk you!" Jadey said.

"Fine! So, in the mean time, why don't you go somewhere else and celebrate with those football players and leave us!" Teddy yelled. Jadey grabbed Roma and climbed down the bleachers.

*---*

"It's the worst, Penny. I've never seen him like that." Jadey said, sitting on a couch in Penny's house.

"What have you guys been doing anyway?" Penny asked.

"Well, we were trying to distract them before they see anything. Especially Chris, but he walked out." Roma explained.

"Why were you guys distracting them?"

"Because, we saw the whole Stan-wild-hug encounter and it's really not good for Chris to see that." Jadey said.

"Oh, right. I don't get it. Why would that matter to him? He said to me that he didn't feel it anymore, and I'm sure he doesn't care anymore."

"Well, we just wanted to tell our boyfriends how we could help because they all look cranky, especially Teddy." Jadey said.

"I didn't know you guys had the initiative to do those. And how annoying could you be?" Penny asked, curiously.

"You don't wanna know, Pen." Jadey assured her. "My mom knows it when I'm lying or something."

"Oh, you mean like, Jadey Bartholomew, I know that you're lying!" Penny said, imitating Jadey's mom's voice.

"Yeah, something like that. But her voice doesn't sound like that." Jadey joked.

"You know what's worse? Is my dad! He would suspect me sneaking sometimes and then yell across, Roma Brandon, I caught you!" Roma said, remembering the time when she tried sneaking out of the house.

"Well, the last time my mom yelled at me was when Roger told her on the dining table about me dating Chris." Penny said, and remembered the memories she had with Chris.

"But now, you and Chris are history." Roma declared.

"Do you think its Stan's fault why this happened to you and Chris?" Jadey asked Penny.

"No, I can't blame Stan. He hasn't done anything wrong, but we just became friends." Penny answered.

"Yeah, but remember the first time you guys met? And Penny, face it. Stan likes you. Maybe the kiss that he did to you wasn't supposed to be done. But I think he really likes you and wants you to realize something."

"But what if I don't realize anything? What will he do?" Penny asked.

"I don't know, Penny. But he's just a guy who has a dream and he's strong enough to reach it. Did you ever think that you would like him back?"

"And again, I don't know. It's just so hard to say no to him. And what I like about him is that he's man enough to face things."

"See? Maybe you do like him."

"Yeah, but just as friends. And I couldn't imagine it being together with him." Penny said, shaking her head.

"And Penny, if you're thinking about approaching Stan, I already made a chart to count how long you and Chris are history." Roma said.

"Wow, and maybe next time, you're gonna be having a notebook with you, counting how many times Jadey kisses her boyfriend." Penny joked, and looked at Jadey who didn't like talking about Teddy. "Sorry."

**Hey, guys. Sorry if it sucked, I was doing this around 2am since I can't sleep. What do you guys think about Stan? And how about Teddy's tantrums? I still have a lot of plans and I have to think about an ending. So, help? And please do it, as in REVIEW. NOW, NOW, NOW.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

As Penny ended a quick day at school, feeling tired and devastated, she just realized that not only Chris didn't like her anymore but he was mad at her too. She closed her misty eyes as she packed her stuff in her locker and stopped herself from crying. She hated crying over things like this, especially when Roger left. She had to be stronger now. The last words Chris had said to her were still stuck in her mind, and it hurt so much. As it hurts, she thought of getting over it. As she walked down the hallways, looking down, she bumped into someone whom she didn't want to see.

"Oh, sorry, Stan." Penny said, and walked by him.

"Hey, Pen. What's wrong?" Stan said, and held her wrists. As Penny hated to explain what had happened, something popped into her mind that made her say,

"Stan, could you come with me for a second? I'm just gonna show you something."

"Okay."

She brought him near a corner of a bathroom where there was nobody passing by. There weren't a lot of people in school anymore since it was a bit late but some players still stayed. As they both stood there, Stan almost leaning on the wall, Penny was getting closer to him. She held his wrists and her hands moved all the way to his arm until it reached his hair. Her lips quickly touched his and her tongue twirled into his mouth. Stan started to kiss her back making her hands mess up his hair. Her hands moved down to Stan's jacket zipper and she tried to unzip it. As she did it, Stan wasn't wearing a shirt under it. Stan pulled away for a second and smiled devilishly.

"Have you been this doing a lot, lately?"

"No, just now."

And she quickly kissed him again, her hands tried to take off Stan's jacket but Stan quickly took it off already. Penny just thought about what Jadey had said if Penny had a chance of liking Stan like how much Stan likes her. When she kissed Stan, she felt something different. And it was something she couldn't understand. What if she did like Stan back? Was it the reason why she had fun all the time when they hung out? But she still had feelings for Chris. Although she didn't think Chris still had feelings for her. He _hated_ her from now on. From their two-year relationship, she couldn't understand what happened. Well, nothing happened. But she could remember the times when they would argue about something. It was Chris being demanding that she hated so much. Guilt suddenly struck her, but something in her head kept telling her it was unnecessary to feel guilty and another voice that kept telling her not to stop._ I didn't want to stop,_ she thought…

*---*

"So, we're here, Penny. What happened?" Jadey asked, as Penny called both of them and asked them to come to her house.

"I did something. And I don't know if it's right." Penny said.

"What did you do?" Roma asked, curiously.

"I…I kissed Stan." Penny confessed.

"You what?!" Jadey and Roma yelled, unbelievably and sat on Penny's bed.

"I did it."

"Why? Did you realize that you liked him back?" Roma asked.

"No, well, in case you guys wanna know, Chris hates me."

"How could you say that?"

"Because, we had a fight at school for one last time." Penny said. "And he said that he's over with this crap and he hates me."

"Ouch, and then Stan came?" Jadey asked.

"Well, I bumped into him and then that's where it all started." She explained.

"Did you feel anything?" Jadey asked.

"Well, I don't know. I mean, it's a lot different when it's with Chris."

"Guys, what if I do like him? What am I gonna do?" Penny asked, panicking.

"Nothing, just face it." Jadey answered quickly.

"Yeah, it's not your fault." Roma said.

"It's okay, guys. I can do this. And, I know it's easy for me to get over Chris. I really don't like the feeling when graduation's nearing."

"Yeah, me too. Have you guys applied yet?" Jadey asked.

"Yeah, in Michigan State University, where Denny studied." Roma said.

"I've been thinking of going there but Chris said we had to discuss things. He said he wanted to move out and go somewhere else but I said it's better to have College here and just move out after graduation." Penny explained.

"But aren't your plans changed already?" Jadey reminded her.

"Oh, right. Hey, Jadey, why don't we apply already?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, I'll tell my parents that I've decided where to go."

"So, it's final, Michigan State University it is." Penny declared, and started writing her plans for College and began finishing all her reports.

*---*

Penny was sitting at her lunch table and answering her college applications, after finishing, she stood up and held the papers and took them to her locker. While walking, she bumped into someone, making her papers fly everywhere.

"Sorry." They both said together and picked up the papers. Penny was surprised to see Chris, and she started getting all nervous. They both stood up and Penny looked at Chris, who was holding some of her papers. Chris glared at her and handed the paper when he read something like Michigan State University.

"You're applying for College?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I didn't want to apply too late since a lot of my plans have changed. Thank you." Penny said, and took the papers from him and walked away. Chris looked back, with regret in his face. Wishing that he didn't say those words to Penny. She had already changed her plans for college and she didn't want to go with him. He now had to think about where to go since graduation's coming and summer's too late for applying. He still had feelings for Penny. She planned to submit the applications tomorrow and deal with all the school work today.

"So, you'll be in my college too, huh?" Johnny asked Penny. Their mom wasn't having dinner with them since she had work to do and a date, so the kids ordered pizza.

"I guess."

"And mom said that her boyfriend's gonna be having dinner with us this Friday night."

"What? So, we're gonna meet her boyfriend or our father-wanna be?" Penny asked, surprisingly.

"Yeah. You can't say that you don't like him." Johnny said.

"No, I'm not saying that I don't like him. I'm just feeling uncomfortable with that." She explained.

"Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine with Mr. Wimbley." Johnny assured.

"Who?"

"Stefan Wimbley. Mom's boyfriend." He explained.

*---*

"Penny, listen about the other day I-" Stan said, walking after class with Penny.

"Stan, I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Why are you apologizing? After that kiss, I felt something. So, you do like me back." He realized. "Do you wanna be with me?"

"What do you mean be with you? Like your girlfriend?"

"Yeah." He said, and ran his fingers through his hair and grinned.

"Stan, I don't know."

"Come on, Pen."

"Stan, I'm sorry but, I can't do that right now. You don't know what I'm going through and it still hurts inside." Penny said. "Stan, I'm sorry. Just give me time to think."

"It's okay, Pen. Don't strain yourself. Listen, do you wanna go to my house on Saturday?" he invited her. "You could meet my parents."

"Meet your parents?" Penny said, nervously.

"Why? Haven't you met your friends' parents before?"

"Well, no, not really."

"Not even Chris's?"

"No." she said. She had never met Chris's parents before, since his dad was still the usual drunkard and beats up his own sons and wife. She had gone to his house for like, once when Eyeball took her. She shuddered at remembering him.

"I see. Come on, don't you wanna come?"

"No, sure, I'll come." Penny said.

"Great. I'll pick you up at noon." He said, and left for class. Penny submitted her applications after school and decided to have a little time with herself. While sitting in her room, thinking to herself, she wrote on a piece of paper "_They're both jerks!!"_ and taped it on her closet. It meant that even Chris turned into a jerk like his own brother. Of course, that's his brother and he's like him, but in a slight way even though Chris had once said that Eyeball was no brother of his.

Friday came, and Penny was getting ready for the dinner with her mom's future husband and her future step-father. She took out a light pink turtle neck top and a pair of dark jeans. She dashed down the stairs and saw Mr. Wimbley come. He was wearing his outfit after work, and his hair was blonde with a little white ones, ocean blue eyes and looked like on his early 40's. _Okay, it's mom's boyfriend. It seem to me that when they get married, he's gonna tell us to move out,_ Penny thought. Johnny was standing by her, wearing a navy buttoned up shirt and jeans. He glared at her, saying that Mr. Wimbley looks fine. Her mom was with him. They both entered and started introducing each other and all the things kids say to their future step-dads. While having dinner, Mr. Wimbley suddenly asked Penny about college.

"So, Penny, where do you plan to have college?" he asked her.

"Michigan State U, sir."

"I see. You know, did you ever plan about going to Yale?"

"Well, I don't know, sir. I never thought of that." Penny said. She remembered when Stan told her about going to Yale. Well, it was nice to go to Yale but she hated the part where she had to move out. What about her friends? And Chris? But she and Chris were done. And she thought about Stan. He told her about his plans of going to Yale. Maybe they might see each other there.

After dinner, and when her mom's boyfriend left, she started thinking about what to do when she meets Stan's parents. Damn it, why did I ever agree to this, she thought. She just forgot about it and jumped into her bed, and got ready tomorrow for another day.

*---*

Penny was getting ready for meeting Stan's parents. She grabbed another light blue turtleneck and tight dark jeans. Johnny was downstairs and was about to leave for his date with Heather.

"You have a date too?" he asked her when she came down.

"I guess."

"Where are you going?" he said. Penny didn't want to tell her brother about meeting Stan's parents but she had to stick to the truth since he'll find out anyway.

"Stan's gonna pick me up and I'm gonna visit his house."

"Stan? I thought you don't like him."

"Well, my mind changed." Penny lied. She heard Stan's car by her house and she knew she about to come.

"Since when did you like him?" Johnny objected.

"Since we started hanging out. And so what? I'm not dating anybody now so I'm free." Penny said, and went out of the house to Stan's car. It was a black Ford GT which looked just like Roger's car. She hopped inside his car and he stared at her and smiled. They arrived at his house from a 30-minute drive. His house was like a governor's house. It looked like his family was really fortunate. It was bricked and had three-stories. They both entered the house and saw Stan's mom. She looked young, more like in her early 30's and had straight dark brown chest-length hair.

"Hi, you must be Penny." His mom said, and kissed both of Penny's cheeks. That's how Spanish people greet each other, I guess, Penny thought.

"This is my mom, Carmen." Stan said. Stan looked a little bit like his mom. He had her skin tone and her nose. Penny noticed Carmen wearing a 4-inch bronze stiletto, and a beige dress. As soon as they entered the dining room, she saw Stan's dad. He approached both of them and smiled.

"Penny, this is my dad, Markus." He said, and Penny shook hands with Markus.

"Please, call me Mark." His dad said. He really looked like an entrepreneur, and the person who ran VanBolt Inc. He was wearing dark jeans and a navy buttoned up shirt. His hair was black and looked like Stan's. And Stan looked a lot like him. She saw in the kitchen a glass pantry with a lot of types of liquor and wine. She sat on their 12-seat dining table and they all drank some whisky. After that, Stan showed her around the house until they reached his room.

"So, this is your room, huh?" she said. His room was very spacious, and had a few soccer posters on the wall. He had an extra-large bed that could fit almost three people, a television and a small refrigerator. She stepped on the floor, bare-footed, and felt the vinyl-wood floor, which was cold. He had a closet with his name written on it.

"Yeah." He said and ran again his fingers through his hair. Penny sat on his comfy bed and stared at him.

"Listen, Penny, I'm not trying to invade your life or anything. I just wanted to know, what happened to you and Chris? I mean, when did you guys start dating?"

"Oh, that." She said, hesitant of telling him about it. It was the one thing that could hurt her.

"It's okay if you don't wanna tell me. I understand." He said, and paced around his bed.

"No, no, it's okay. This is what happened. In our sophomore year, I dated his brother, Eyeball." She said, and made Stan looked surprised. She laughed reluctantly and asked,

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, it's just that, I couldn't imagine you dating a Cobra. I mean, what could've happened to you?" he answered, feeling a bit nervous.

"Well, I don't know what had gotten into me but we just dated for a while. Because when I met Chris, everything changed."

"What changed?"

"Chris and I were just friends, but when something goes wrong with me and Eyeball, he's always there. When after one night, I got all dizzy on the street because of a broken glass stuck in my skin, he was there." She said, and saw all the images come back in her mind. "Then, he started asking me if I liked him back, but I couldn't answer him. That's what I hate about him. He's really demanding. And then when we were finally together, the Cobras started to hurt everyone. Until in the prom, there was a lot of drama and suspense."

"Oh, yeah. I remember when the police came." Stan said.

"Yeah, anyway, who was your date in the prom?"

"Lanny Davis. I used to date her." He said, which made Penny give him a disgusted look. "Why? You don't like her?"

"I can't believe you would date that bitch." She said.

"Aw, you don't like Lanny." He teased and started stroking her hair and held her cheek.

"Stan!" Penny complained, and stood up.

"Chill, Penny. C'mon, she's gone and we broke up already." He said. "Well, back to your prom thingy."

"Okay, well, after the prom, the Cobras were brought to jail and Chris said that Eyeball's gonna be in a heap of trouble. So, after that, I never heard from the Cobras anymore. So, after that, Eyeball's dad threw a fit and beat him up again when he was released, so, he got fed up and moved out. We haven't heard from them since, even the Cobras. We don't know what happened to Ace. But even though we got the happy ending, I hated it a bit."

"Why the hell would you hate it? You guys are lucky you got it."

"Well, because usually Chris and I would fight about something and it will be always my fault."

"What would you guys fight about?"

"Stuff. Like, you know, stuff you would want to do with your girlfriend but she doesn't wanna do it with you." She said, and breathed guiltily, remembering all the fights she had with Chris. She soon got misty eyes and she couldn't help but cry and bust out all the pain she had been through. "I just can't deal with him anymore."

"Penny, I'm sorry." Stan said, and sat beside her and hugged her around her shoulders, making her head rest on his chest. "I shouldn't have asked you that."

"It's okay, Stan." She said, and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you."

"Mmmmm." He murmured, his lips on her hair, and he kissed it. _I hope you realize something now,_ he thought. As much as he liked her, Penny hasn't decided yet if she wanted to be together with him. She couldn't, she was scared. But their kiss had said too much. But she didn't regret it. _I'll be waiting,_ he thought again. _I'll think as fast as I can,_ Penny thought.

**So, how was it? Okay, well, I just took a break from doing these, so it took too long. Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! C'mon, pls review??**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Penny was in Stan's car, after seeing his house. It was almost seven o'clock and the sky looked cloudy. They were both silent for a while when Stan stopped the car before her house.

"I hope you had fun, Pen." He said, and smiled.

"Yeah, I did. And, thanks for understanding me." She said.

"Of course. I'll see you soon, then." He said.

"Yeah, bye." She said.

"Bye." He said, and placed his hand on her cheek and kissed her. Penny stared at him, with a look that looked neither confused nor surprised. She smiled and got out of his car until she reached her gate. She waved at him until the car disappeared unto the street. Penny entered the house and saw her brother waiting for dinner.

"I thought you'll be back around eleven." Penny said, looking at Johnny, who looked disgruntled and impatient.

"I'm four hours early and you're mad about that?" he asked.

"No, Jonathan, I'm not. I was just curious." She said, and folded her arms.

"Well, it's none of your business." He said.

"Well, fine." She said, and walked away, going upstairs.

"Okay, I'm sorry, Penny. By the way, how was Stan's house?" he asked, brightly.

"Fine. And his parents are really high-class." Penny said, going back to the living room. "His mom's sort of glamorous and stuff like that and his dad's business-like."

"How was his cribs?"

"Great. It was really large and they had a lot of these, stuff that rich people had." She said. "And, I have to tell you, this is the first time in my life to meet someone's parents."

"Yeah, right. Is he like your boyfriend now?" Johnny asked, with a teasing look on his face.

"I don't know." She said, cluelessly.

"C'mon, usually you would meet his parents because it means like your together or something. Especially when he shows you to his room. And speaking of his room, did you guys do anything there?" he asked.

"He did show me to his room but we didn't do anything God-knows-what in there!" she protested.

"No, Penny. I didn't mean those stuff!" Johnny said, disgusted. "Your mind's gross."

"Well, if you think it's gross, then why the hell are you doing it?" she joked, and laughed all the way upstairs.

*---*

Penny was with her friends, sitting on their usual lunch table, staring at each other, tapping their fingers and thinking of something. Penny told them about visiting Stan's house and when he asked her to be his girlfriend.

"Yes! No! Yes, No!" Penny kept saying. "Guys, I can't do this!"

"Well, what answer is mostly on your mind?" Jadey asked.

"Usually it's yes." Penny answered surely.

"Then, say yes to him!" Roma said.

"Wait, guys. Let me think." Penny said, and looked down and closed her eyes.

"Concentrate, Pen." Jadey said, and closed her eyes too.

"Yes, think of the answer that you know that's right."

"Alright, guys, I've decided now. And my answer is, YES!" Penny said, bravely and stood from the table.

"Yeah, Penny! Tell 'em." Jadey said.

"And, uh, you might wanna come after him 'cause he's leaving the cafeteria." Roma said, and pointed at Stan, who was walking quickly, behind his friends.

"Oh, right." Penny said, and ran after him. "Stan! STAN, I'm giving you an answer! Stan, I'm saying YES!"

While running after him, Chris and Gordie's table was nearby the cafeteria exit and Chris wondered what Penny was yelling about.

"What is the matter with Penny?" Gordie asked, and looked at her running after Stan and kept saying "Stan, I'm saying yes."

"I don't care." Chris said, and ignored her.

"I don't know why but it's hard to ignore someone shouting." he said, and looked at her.

"What is she saying yes to? And what answer will she give to Stan?" he asked confusingly.

"Maybe, she's gonna say yes to something he asked like-"Teddy guessed, but was cut off by Chris when an idea popped into his mind and made him feel mad. He's grabbed Vern's new tetra pack orange juice and threw it on Penny's way, making her not see it, and slip on the floor. She slipped and landed on her ankle, making her grunt softly. She looked and saw Stan leaving and she wasn't able to catch up since she lost him. Gordie stood up, looking shocked. She looked at their table, and Vern pointed at Chris. Chris saw Vern pointing at him and he stood up and faced Penny.

"Penny, are you okay?" Jadey and Roma said, and helped her get up. She nodded and looked at Chris disbelievingly.

"What did you just do?" she asked him, calmly.

"Well, what were you doing with those football players?"

"Why the hell do you care? We weren't even doing anything to you!"

"Oh, yeah? Don't you know that you're acting like a fucking bastard ever since you started hanging out with those douche bags!" Chris said angrily, making Gordie hold him back.

"I don't know why it's affecting you. I try to stay away from you so that you could move on with your life." Penny said, and stepped to another direction to leave. Stan's other friend, Rafael Ronnie, who scored the last goal last game, passed by and looked at Penny confusingly.

"Hi, Penny." He said as he passed by. Maybe he's going where Stan's going, she knew.

"Hey, Rafa, where are you guys going?" she asked him.

"To train." He said.

"Oh, okay." Penny said, and he left the cafeteria too. She walked away with Jadey and Roma back to their table and got an extra napkin, dropped some water on it from her bottle, and wiped off the sticky juice on her shoes.

Penny was feeling awkward and impatient during Chemistry class since she's partners with Chris. They both had to work on an experiment that was really hard since the chemicals needed to be combined were really dangerous to their skin. Some student's skin was even almost burned off. Penny carefully poured some chemical in a test tube and asked Chris without looking up,

"Could you at least help me out with this?"

"Stop hanging out with them, then I will." He answered, and picked up a flask with bubbling green chemicals.

"I don't know why the hell you give a shit about that! I thought you said that you wouldn't care about me and my business anymore."

"Well, I just can't help ignoring someone Ihate and will never come back to again!" He said, and dropped the flask that he was holding on the floor, that held some strong chemicals. The flask broke into shiny pieces and the chemicals still bubbled on the floor and spread into a big puddle on the floor.

"Well if you hate me, forget me!"

"Excuse me, Chambers, Connors, detention." She declared and handed them two slips.

"But, I didn't break anything." Penny protested.

"Yes, but you did the experiment wrong and you're not working with your partner. Now, c'mon, before I give you another one tomorrow." she threatened calmly and they both stood up and took the slips and went out of the lab. She looked at her slip which says, detention for 30 minutes. She glared at Chris looking pissed who didn't look at her and was reading his slip. He had two papers on his hands, she peeked at the other one, which was like a letter to his parents for breaking a lab material. She felt a bit sad for him because he had to show it to his dad and he could get beaten up again. And she had her first detention on her final year. The last thing she ever wanted to happen to her aside from dying and getting pregnant. They both arrived at a door with the word **DETENTION** labeled on it and they both opened the door gently and entered the room, with the cranky detention monitor.

"Where could they be?" Gordie complained, looking for Chris, not knowing that Chris and Penny had detention. He was with Teddy and they both had their girlfriends with them who were looking for Penny.

"Maybe they made up again." Roma guessed, thinking how Chris and Penny would look like, together again.

"If they're back together again, what do you think is gonna happen to Stan?" Jadey asked Roma.

"Oh, right."

"Look, guys, there they are." Teddy pointed. Chris was walking holding a sheet of paper and looked pissed. Penny followed by and didn't look happy either.

"What happened to you?" Gordie asked, tired of waiting for Chris.

"I had detention." He answered, and looked at Penny, like he was blaming her. Penny looked back at him and walked away out of the hallways. She really didn't feel like she and Chris had another chance to get back together again. She already knew that he hates her, and maybe the time will come when she'll hate him back. And she thought about her remaining feelings for him, she felt them fade away. Since it started to fade, it hurt a little bit inside of her. But she knows that she could fight it.

"And what happened with that?" Gordie asked again, as he looked at Penny walk away. Jadey and Roma looked at each other and decided to come after Penny. They slowly walked out and followed after Penny.

"Guys, my dad's gonna kill me." Chris said, nervously.

"What? What happened?" Teddy asked. Chris showed a letter to his parents and Gordie grabbed it from him and read it.

"You broke a flask with skin-burning chemicals?"

"Yeah, I screwed." Chris admitted and took back the letter and folded it.

"How the hell did you break it? You got scared of the chemicals?" Teddy asked, sarcastically.

"No, Teddy. Penny and I were kind of, arguing and then I really couldn't help it. And then, she got detention too because of me. And I'm sure she's really pissed off and now she hates me."

"Well, what if she just wanted to stay in detention with you?"

"No, she was really mad at me. You know what, I think I give up. I think we'll ever be together again."

"Chris, you can't just give up, you're Chambers."

"Yeah, and I gotta go, my old Mr. Chambers'll have to see this letter." Chris said, and walked away nervously home.

*---*

"Are you gonna have to make us beg or what?" Jadey demanded, forcing Penny to tell her about what happened in Chemistry.

"I told you. It's both our fault."

"Yeah, well, what exactly happened? Just give us some little details."

"Okay, we were kind of arguing silently then we got caught."

"What were you guys fighting about anyway?" Jadey asked simply.

"Well, I didn't want to start, but he did. He kept telling to stop hanging out with them. And then he dropped a flask and spilled chemicals and I was caught not working with him." Penny said, sounding pissed.

"Oh, gosh, what's happening to Chris?" Jadey wondered.

"Just let him is. He'll get over it soon."

"And have you gotten over it already?"

"Well, I guess."

**Okay, I'm REALLY sorry guys it took me like 3 or more months to finish this effin' chappie. I just keep forgetting to do it. And a lot of stuff's happening since the beginning of this year. I'll try to finish this story already. Congratulations to Roger Federer, happy birthday to Cristiano Ronaldo, you really didn't deserve that stupid red card! Read it now, and review now.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Penny looked at Stan's pictures from when he was still a kid. It was in one long oak shelf with a lot of pictures of him and his family. As she paced around looking at them, she felt Stan's warm hands around her arms and she rested her head on his chest.

"It's okay, it's just detention." He said.

"Yeah, I know. It's just that, I don't know why I need to get it."

"Well, just forget it. That's just how high school works. And, we'll be out of here in like a month already." Stan said, as his family planned to move out after graduation but he never planned to tell Penny just yet, since he was still waiting for her answer, which he hoped would be a 'yes'.

"What do you mean out of here? Like, this town?" Penny asked, nervously.

"Well, maybe." He said, and pulled away and paced around the living room.

"Wait, so you're moving out? Back to LA?"

"Actually, my parents planned to go back to LA or Spain." He said, as he faced her, and saw Penny looking disappointed. He felt his heart skip, thinking that she didn't want him to leave. "But it's not yet final."

"Oh, okay." Penny said, looking calmer.

*---*

"Johnny, have you seen your sister?" Judy, Penny's mom, asked.

"As usual, in Stan's house." Johnny said. Penny was usually hanging out with Stan these days.

"Well, if you know the number of that boy's house, please call her. Stefan and I will have a word with her." Judy said, holding her car keys.

"You're leaving?"

"I just have to go somewhere. I'll be back before dinner." She said, and rushed out of the house. "Good-bye, Jonathan."

"Bye, mom." He said, and started looking for Stan's number in his phone book.

*---*

"I just hope things would work out before we graduate." Penny wished, as she sat down on Stan's bed.

"I wished for that too. And, I don't even know what to expect yet." He said and sat beside her. Penny placed her arm around Stan and kissed his cheek. He looked at her, a bit startled but smiled and kissed Penny, without thinking of letting go. Penny kissed him back and wrapped both of her arms around him. Stan pushed her on to his bed and kissed the edge of her jaw until he started to bite it. Penny held the edge of his shirt faced the other way to breathe.

"Am I going too fast?" he asked. Penny responded by sitting up and placed her hands on his face and kissed him passionately. She started to feel his teeth on the edge of her jaw and his body on hers, making her lie back on his bed.

"Stan, you're really buffed." She said, and he sat up and got out of his bed. He stood at the end of his bed and stared at her. Penny sat up and looked at him and then at his side table. Stan just looked at her, thinking about when she will ever plan to answer him, since she hasn't answered him yet.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly and stood up and approached him.

"Nothing. I just remembered something." He answered, and looked down.

"Well, what did you remember?"

"Penny, do you realize what we just did?" he asked her and held her shoulders.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Do you love me?"

"Stan, I don't understand." She said, and held his hands and shrugged it away.

"No, just answer me. Do you love me?" he said again.

"I-don't know. What if I can't?"

"You can't? So, you don't love me." He stated.

"Stan, I can't just love someone right now."

"If you don't love me, then why are we doing this?" he asked, frustrated.

"Stan, please understand. I'm in this situation and I don't know how to get past it." She reasoned out, asking for a chance.

"Just give me a chance. I thought when you did that, I thought that I finally got you, that I finally made you love me too. Because I always did." He said, and walked away.

"I'm sorry but I can't just do this right now. But I always liked you." She said, and grabbed his wrist. He looked back at her, still doubtful. "You'll always be the most understanding and funniest person I've ever met."

He smiled and faced her this time and said,

"Thanks." And placed his arms around her waist and hugged her. He covered his face on her hair and kissed it.

"I'm sorry." He said, while kissing her hair. Penny gave a small nod and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling its warmth. Stan's phone on his table suddenly rang. But they were still wrapped with each other. It rang for the second time and Stan pulled away to answer it.

"Hello?" he answered. "Hey, Johnny, man, how's it going?"

"Great." Johnny mumbled on the other line. "Hey, listen is my sister there with you?"

Stan looked at Penny, who just looked at him and said, "Yeah, she's here."

"Well, she has some family matters to attend to and her mother needs her. I'm picking her up." Johnny said.

"Hey, I'll just take her home." Stan offered, as he didn't want Penny to leave yet.

"Nah, man. I can handle it." Johnny said, and hung up.

"Okay." He said casually and faced Penny. "Your brother's gonna be picking you up. I think you have some family stuff."

"What? Oh, no. I think this is about mom's boyfriend." She guessed.

"Yeah, well, c'mon, I'll take you downstairs." He said, and accompanied her downstairs. They stood before the door and Stan said,

"Don't worry. We'll still see each other at school."

"Yeah." Penny said, and for one last time, she placed her hands on his broad shoulders and rested her lips on his. She had this feeling for him whenever they kiss. She was curious if she loved him too, since she couldn't. She didn't want to anymore. But she couldn't hide that feeling anymore.

Stan pulled away a few centimeters away from her; his eyes still closed, and rested his forehead on hers. He smiled jokingly and kissed Penny's nose and she felt his arms moving around her waist, becoming tighter. Stan moved quickly to kiss her neck but failed to when he heard a car honk on their driveway. Penny pulled away and stepped out of his house. She looked at him again and waved goodbye.

"Bye. Good luck with your family." He said, as Penny dashed to Johnny's car. She stepped into the car and looked at Johnny with a straight face.

"Hey. So, did you have a good time?" he asked casually, when he noticed her.

"Yeah, I always do. Now, what's wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong."

"Then why are you so eager to talk to me?" Penny asked.

"Okay, first of all, nothing's wrong; second, mom's the one who's eager to talk to you and not me. Because, why would I even wanna talk to you?"

"Nice one, okay, I get it. And please don't act like having PMS, I hate that." Penny demanded, having a very rare conversation with Johnny.

"C'mon, you act like this yourself."

"At least I have a reason. And I hope you don't have yours."

"Hey, you're talking to me, not to mom." He reminded her, since he wasn't a girl. They were five minutes away from their house when Penny saw Chris sitting with Gordie, Teddy and Vern in Gordie's house. She saw Gordie stare at her and tapped Chris, making Penny look away.

"Feeling awkward when passing by your ex?"

"No. Now, stop asking." She demanded and looked through the window when they left the street. It was almost 6:00 and the sky was getting dark. They got home and Penny saw her mom's car arrive too with her boyfriend. She entered the house and went straight to her room, avoiding her mom's boyfriend.

"Penny? Penny, would you please come down here?" Her mom requested from downstairs. Penny quickly obeyed and went down. She stared at Stefan, her mom's boyfriend and faced her mom.

"Stefan will have a word with you." She said.

"What? Why?"

"Not just her. Also Jonathan." He said. Johnny looked at him curiously and just nodded casually. They both sat on the dining table which looked like a conference table.

"So, children, I came here to talk to you. To let you know something." He said formally. "But I have to divide these into two."

"First, your mother and I are getting married."

"And second, we're moving to Boston."

Penny's and Johnny's eyes widened to what they heard. Move to Boston? Penny thought. How about my life here? How about College? How about…Stan?

"When are we doing this?"Johnny protested.

"Right after Penny graduates."Their mother said. Penny had a blank expression in her face and just stood up and walked out. Johnny looked at her as she raced up the stairs.

"She isn't upset. That's just a common reaction for her." Johnny explained and followed Penny to her room. He gave a knock and gently opened her door. She was squatting on her bed, looking problematic. "So, I see you don't want to."

"No, it's not that I don't want. Actually, it's a good thing they thought of that." She said. "It's just that, it's so hard to leave the things in this town."

"You mean like, your friends? C'mon, Pen, you'll meet a lot more friends in there."

"Not just my friends. A lot of stuff happened to me here. And I don't know if I could leave the people that meant to me here. Like…like Chris."

"Oh, so you still like him, huh?"

"I don't know. What about the college that I applied to?"

"There's college in Boston too you know." He said. "Is it just about those or there's still that feeling in there."

"What do you mean?"

"You know," Johnny hinted, and nodded his head rolled his eyes. "That dude you always hung out with."

"Oh, that." Penny remembered sadly.

"I don't get you. Is he your boyfriend or what?"

"Okay, that's the complicated part."

"Complicated? You like, met his parents, seen his room and all that and that's still complicated? I know he asked you already." Johnny said.

"He did."

"I knew it! And you said 'yes' to that crap?" he joked.

"No! Well, I asked him if he would give me a little time to think." Penny explained.

"Time? You know what, if you give that kind of answer to me, I would slap you." He exclaimed.

"He's really patient, I mean, I want to answer him but I don't know when."

"Try on graduation." Johnny suggested, and gave a teasing laugh.

"I won't fall for that. You know what, Johnny, I think I like our new dad's idea. Let's get out of this place." Penny said, and stood from her bed.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" he said, and stood up and they both did a high five."

*---*

"You guys are leaving?!" Jadey exclaimed, and slammed on her locker, making everybody look at them.

"He's gonna be my new father."

"What? And you said yes to that?"

"Actually, I like the idea of moving out. It'll give me a chance to change." She reasoned out.

"Well, what about him?"

"Forget him. Forget all those guys. I don't wanna do this anymore." Penny declared, closed her fists.

"Woah, woah, I don't think you can just say that. 'Cause here he comes." Jadey warned and walked out to give them some space.

"Who?" Penny asked, but Jadey wasn't there anymore.

"Hey, it's me." A guy tapped her. Penny turned around and saw Stan, smiling and looking bright today.

"Good morning." She said, and looked away.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?" he asked, held her shoulders to face him. She hesitated to answer him but she had to.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just that, "

"The finals? Yeah, I know, it's like almost coming and then after that, we're graduating." He quickly figured out.

"Umm, yeah, that." She said, covering up the fact that she's moving out after graduation, which she didn't want to tell him just yet.

"Don't worry, we can handle this." He said, as he placed his hand on her cheek. As Penny looked down, she noticed Chris pass by with his friends and spotted the two of them. Penny felt awkward and planned to change the subject.

"Okay, listen, I have to go. I'll see you later." She said, awkwardly and took his hand gently.

"Sure." He said, hesitatingly and stared at her as she left.

Lunch came so fast and only a few seniors were in the cafeteria since every senior student are still hanging in classes, and doing all the work they need to do. Some would sit on the cafeteria but never order anything but a drink. Penny showed up with her friends covered with sweat on their foreheads and temple and black and blue ink on their fingers. They sat on their usual table and had light lunches.

"Can we go back to the part where I forgot something again?" Roma complained, as her papers were all mixed up in one folder, but some were lost.

"Wait, I think we submitted that thing already, " Jadey thought, and looked through hers. "Right, we already submitted it."

"How 'bout the final report on history?" Penny asked, and opened her bag and poured all her stuff on the floor to find it.

"Next time, we have to put a check list about these." Jadey suggested.

"Right, it's still here."

"Hello, ladies. Mind if I sit with you?" Gordie asked, and grabbed a chair to sit with them.

"So, Gordie, how's Chris doing?" Penny asked him, and started eating.

"Beat up. Again. Cramming, right now. And honestly, Pen, he misses you. He's been telling me that he's sorry for what he did."

"Oh, I really wanna talk to him, tell him I'm sorry too." She murmured, feeling upset for him.

"It's okay. Now, can we all relax and enjoy lunch before we go back to hell?" he demanded, and sat back and started eating. All the girls nodded and dropped their stuff.

"Right, I wanna relax for a while before I ever think of moving on." Penny agreed sarcastically, making Gordie look at her confusingly, and Jadey and Roma frowning.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The first day of finals has begun. Penny was positioned at the second row of desk chairs, and was in the same classroom with Stan, who was seated almost at the back. As Penny answered the last item on her History test, which was the second one to take after Spanish. She turned her back to see Stan, who looked back at her, and winked. She grinned back and stood up to submit her test.

"Could you please tell him? You're the only person he listens to." Penny admitted, while having lunch with Gordie

"It's not like he's gonna listen to me now, is he?" he doubted, refusing to tell Chris to fix things with Penny before graduation.

"Gordie, I'm running out of time. I can't do it after graduation, it's too late."

"Too late? Don't be so exaggerating, Pen. We can always fix things; just give me time to think of a plan."

"Oh, right." Penny agreed sadly, remembering the fact that she's moving out after graduation. But she thought that it wasn't best to tell him now.

*---*

"Okay, here's the plan, we'll all crowd up to the table; then when you see this signal, it means you approach the table and sit, then we leave you guys." Gordie discussed with Penny, Jadey, and Roma a few minutes before entering the exam rooms.

"But what if he leaves too?" Penny asked.

"No, he won't. Well, I hope not. And if he would, follow him. He'll never find us." Gordie assured her. "Now, goodbye, ladies. I have a Math test to take."

And Gordie proceeded to the exam room. The girls followed, who had separate exam rooms but were all taking Math. Penny sat on her assigned desk and looked at her back to see if Stan was there, but he wasn't. She heard running footsteps and saw him stand by the door. He wasn't late but was on time. He walked by Penny and she saw a passport almost falling off his bag. Why would he bring his passport to school? She wondered.

The test was all about the usual lessons: geometry, trigonometry, algebra and all those numbers that drive Penny crazy. She took out a pen and read the first number. Damn! Even the first number's this hard, she thought. She looked at the clock, 8:00am, she still has 1hour and 30 minutes to take the test.

"Help me." She murmured, silently under her breath, and began answering the first number.

Penny still had 15 minutes to take the test and there were only about fifteen people left in the room including Stan. As she finished, she stood up and handed the teacher her test and gathered her stuff and left the room, and wiped off some sweat off her forehead.

"It was hell." She complained, and drank some water with Teddy, Gordie, Vern and Jadey.

"I know! I don't know if I could pass it." Vern said, talking about the math exam.

"Hey, guys, I think Chris is coming." Gordie thought. "You know the plan, right?"

Penny temporarily left the table until Chris came and sat with them. Penny simply hid in a corner and looked at them. Chris sat with them and everybody stared at him, which was the signal.

"What? Did I do something?" he asked, confused.

"No, anyway, how's it going?" Vern asked casually. Chris started talking about what happened and Penny started walking towards the table and everybody simply walked away from the table. Chris looked at them confusingly and gazed at Penny as she sat with them.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked her.

"It's called sitting." She answered back. Chris suddenly stood up quickly and walked away from the table, which was really part of the plan to go after him. Chris. Chris, wait."

Penny followed after him until they reached the empty hallway. "We can't be like this forever."

"What?" he asked, surprisingly and looked back at her.

"Look, before we graduate, I really want to fix things with you." She said.

"Yeah, I guess me too." He admitted.

"I'm sorry if we can't bring back the relationship we had before but, can we still be friends?"

"Actually, umm, there was something I wanted to ask you more than that." He said. "Can't we go back to being together?"

"I don't know, Chris. What if I can't do this anymore?"

"What do you mean? Don't you still like me?" he asked, and held her wrists.

"Well, I do like you for sure, but,-"

"But what? You found someone better?" he said, starting to get frustrated.

"No, it's just that, I don't want someone to get hurt anymore." Penny tried to find a reason. Chris let go of her wrists and leaned on a wall.

"I don't get you anymore. Why do you think someone's gonna get hurt? I won't hurt you, I promise. Forget about what happened in the past. " He said sincerely. Penny started to feel confused.

"Chris, just hear me out. I'm sorry but we can't, it's for the best."

"Yeah, I hear you now." He said, disappointingly and walked away. Penny froze on where she was standing and just yelled,

"We could've at least been friends! Damn!"

She stood frozen at the hallway and placed her hands on her waist and looked confused. I think he's the one who cracked this time, she thought.

*---*

"I'm sorry but I just couldn't agree to that." Penny explained, a few minutes after what happened with Chris. She was sitting with Jadey and Roma on the stairs near the school entrance door.

"Why? And I really think it's your fault." Jadey said.

"My fault? Jadey, don't you remember? I'm moving out after graduation!" Penny reminded her.

"Oh, does he know about that?"

"No." she answered blankly.

"Then what reason did you tell him? Let me guess, you're going out with Mr. Van Der Bolt?"

"No, I'm not _yet _going out with him. And, I just kind of said that, it's for the best and other stuff." She said.

"Gosh, ever since that Stan showed up you two kind of screwed up." Roma observed.

"I didn't screw up, he did! Well, partially it's my fault because I kept agreeing with Stan but Chris was so insecure!" Penny protested, accidentally flicking too hard the pen she was holding. The pen flew almost a meter away from them. Penny stood up to retrieve it when someone took it for her.

"What are you three still doing here?" Stan asked, and handed Penny her pen.

"Well, what are you doing here?" she answered sternly.

"I have training today." He reminded her, looking curious with her tone.

"Right." She said.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong? You sound down today." He said, holding her shoulder to face him.

"Stan, it's nothing. It's just school stuff. And I really gotta go. So, I'll see you soon." She said, and took out his hand from her shoulder. She gathered her stuff and dropped her pen in her bag and glared at the girls. She walked away quickly into the parking lot, leaving Stan with the girls. Stan looked at Jadey and Roma and they stared at him confusingly. He remembered something suddenly and tried to catch up after Penny.

"Do you think he's mad? Is he gonna confront her?" Jadey whispered to Roma, as he walked quickly to follow after Penny.

"I don't know. But he might."

"Good luck with Penny." Jadey said, and continued writing.

"Penny, Penny, wait up." He said, and tagged along behind her.

"Stan, could you just leave me alone? It has been a hell of a day already." Penny said reluctantly, and walked some more.

"Listen, I know what happened a while ago." He admitted, and held her elbow.

"You know it?" She asked, surprisingly. He nodded honestly. "Then why the hell did you ask?"

"I don't know. I guess I just wanted to ask you why you said no, and will you answer it now?"

"I'm sorry if I was so cranky, but I just had to." She explained.

"Well, are you answering me?" he asked her.

"Oh, right, about that," she suddenly remembered, she already tried to answer him with a yes but failed to, but now, things changed. She couldn't just say yes to him, since didn't want him to get hurt or anything if she leaves, but she didn't want to tell him just yet. She looked away and took a step backward, trying to avoid the situation.

"Why can't you just tell me?! After all the things that we've been through!" he busted frustratingly, and gripped Penny's arms with his fingers all over them.

"After all the things that happened to me since my sophomore year, you would expect me to have another relationship again? My God, Stan, it's been all about hell! In all of these bullshit relationships, I had to undergo all such crap, and then I would go start blaming myself and crying all night and ask for another chance, and do you know what I think? I think it's just shit!"

"Then why don't you just tell me right away? I gathered all my guts to ask you to be mine, tried to talk to your brother, and changed myself for the better."

"No one told you to do those stuff. You could've just asked another girl whose dying to be with you, 'cause I hear a lot of girls are crushing on you."

"I don't care about those girls. I care about you. And I've dated some of them who always said yes but we just break up. Now, I know that we won't end up like that 'cause I asked you to be my girlfriend because I love you."

"Well, what if I don't?"

"Then stop pretending. Just answer me!"

"Oh, you think I'm pretending? Well, now I won't."

"Then tell me yes or no!"

"Fine. My answer's no!" She yelled ruthlessly but sounded a bit hurt, and left him and walked away. Penny headed back to the school grounds with a straight face, and looked at sky, which was almost darkening, and thought about everything. I did it; I said no, she thought without any regret.

She left school and walked down a bleak street which wasn't familiar, and it came to her senses that she was lost, but she couldn't be since she was too familiar with this town. She slowly tiptoed further to find people. She saw this dark figure of a person, who looked to be like a guy, sitting on the gutter. She took one last step, and that strange figure suddenly lit a cigarette, letting her see him more. The guy looked familiar, though. But he looked older now, like a man on his late 20's. He had short blonde hair and she saw his other arm with a scar that looked like it had been shot or something.

"Charlie?" she murmured, making him hear her. He stood up and threw the cigarette. Flashes of what had happened to her a couple of years ago make her feel like having déjà vu. She stepped back and dashed away from that creepy street. I can't believe it, she thought.

"I thought Charlie was in jail." She whispered to herself, and suddenly bumped into Johnny. "Johnny! Thank God."

"What are you still doing on the streets?" he asked, impatiently.

"Sorry, I stayed in school for a while and then I walked through this creepy street, and I think it was like a shortcut."

"And did you think that you had to run?"

"Oh, well, I, uhh-I-I, " she stammered, thinking of a reasonable excuse, since she tried to avoid telling him about seeing Charlie. "Just got scared."

"My goodness, scared? You're like what, eighteen? C'mon, let's go." He said, and grabbed her hand and walked back home. "How old are you again?"

"Eighteen."

"Well, look who's scared of a street." He teased, and kicked her butt.

"Hey, it was dark and creepy." She protested, and kicked him too.

"Whatever. Little miss scared of the dark." He murmured under his breath. The two travelled back home before it got too dark and Penny still couldn't get over it when she saw Charlie.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was now the last day of finals and a few days till graduation and every senior was either excited or sad about it. Chris was sitting on an empty table in the cafeteria, reviewing for the last minute before the last test, which was chemistry. He was skimming on some pages until he heard someone pass by him.

"Hey." Stan said. Chris looked up for a second and went back to reading. "So how's everything going?"

"Great." He replied. Stan sat with him and stared at him for a few seconds, making him feel awkward.

"Yeah, and I know it could be a little stressful, especially the part where you deal with women." He said.

"What?" Chris asked, and finally looked up.

"Listen, man, I heard about what happened yesterday." Stan confessed.

"That is none of your business." Chris said, disgustingly and started clearing up his table fixing his stuff.

"No, dude, I asked her the same question too. It was just a bit different." He explained, and stood up when Chris did.

"Why, is it the fact that she said yes to you? So now I get it, she doesn't wanna go back with me because of you." He declared angrily and pushed him backwards on his chest.

"That's not true! She said no to both of us!" Stan protested, and yanked his hands away. "And don't accuse me of that, because I love her too as much as you do, or maybe even more."

"You don't know what it's like being with her for a long time because you two had never been together. And I love her more than anyone can imagine!" He said.

"Well, I respect that. But I'm telling you, you can't say it's my fault, because she chose this." Stan said, and walked out of the cafeteria. Everyone's attention was still on Chris and Stan after their loud and unusual confrontation. He looked at everyone and said,

"Football. He loves it so much."

And everyone nodded and went back to what they were doing. Chris sat down lousily and bumped his head on the table.

*---*

"Ouch! You did what?" Jadey exclaimed, after hearing about what happened to Penny and Stan yesterday.

"I did it. I said no."

"Gosh, wonder what those two guys felt after you did to them." Jadey thought.

"Hey, it's better to say no now, then to leave them after graduation." Penny explained positively.

"I guess. But when will you tell them about it?"

"I don't know, I'll try to tell them someday but not face to face, let's say I'll ask a person to tell them."

"Now, that's gonna hurt them even more."

"But that's all I got. What else can I do?" Penny asked them.

"Well, you're right. C'mon, our finals are done and we'll just rehearse for the graduation which is just for a period of time, of course. And then it's our graduation day and then you leave, like when?"

"A week after that." She answered. A teacher suddenly passed by in front of them while they were sitting in a corner.

"God, I'm really gonna miss Mr. Williams. He's so cute; I wish he was just a student." Jadey said, talking about their music teacher, who was just ten years older than them.

"Mr. Will is cute but isn't ten years too old?" Penny said. They both admired Mr. Williams since their freshman year but rarely check him out since they hate him during classes. "I'm gonna miss a lot of people here."

"Yeah, and we're gonna miss you too."

"Don't worry. We'll try to keep in touch." Penny promised. "We'll keep writing or calling to each other."

"Yeah. Hey, you wanna get some ice cream?" Jadey asked, and wiped some sweat on her forehead. Penny nodded and they both left school and went to a nearby ice cream store.

*---*

The seniors have been rehearsing for graduation now but things were starting to get a little unusual for them. Some had problems on where to go to College, and some were arguing about being separated from each other. Penny on the other hand, was just trying to get away from things. She walked alone near the woods. Since she wasn't that familiar with that place, she started to feel the creeps again. She walked quickly but suddenly slid from the slippery ground. She fell on her head and started to feel a bit dizzy and she didn't plan on getting up. She heard a sound of footsteps coming near her and she knew this was her time. Could it be Charlie? What if it was some murderer who saw her? She thought. She looked and saw the person she didn't expect to see.

"Chris?" she said, while lying down on the ground. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We used to go here to find the Rey Brower's body when were just twelve." He said, not answering her question.

"Yeah, I remember that."

"Then what are you doing here? And lying on the ground?" he asked.

"I just wanted to go here. Now, can you help me get up?" she asked him demandingly. Instead of pulling her arms to help her up, he slowly knelt down between her legs and placed his hands between her head and rested his body on her. "What the hell are you doing?"

He ignored her whining and rested his lips on hers, something he hasn't done for a long time. And he missed it. He didn't care if Penny kissed back or not, he just wanted to feel her again.

Penny was trying to constrain herself since she didn't like it anymore. She didn't think if she would something anymore. Chris suddenly stopped and Penny stood up quickly, pushing Chris aside, and dashed from the woods, leaving him lying on the ground sideways.

Chris remained lying and looked a bit surprised. It's weird, he thought. She's different this time. She didn't want to kiss me anymore, or maybe someone kissed her aside from me. He knew that he was the only one who kissed her aside from Eyeball which Penny didn't consider as a kiss. Maybe that asshole kissed her, he thought angrily. He squatted for a few minutes and looked at sky, which was almost darkening. I guess she changed, he thought again.

Penny was running back home quickly. She saw shadows of two people coming her way from a distance. She paused for a second and took a step back. The two mystery people went closer to her sight, and she breathed in relief to see Jadey and Roma.

"What happened to you?" they both asked in surprise, seeing Penny looking she just lived in a tree.

"Um, long story. Can we do it somewhere else?" Penny requested.

"I have an idea." Jadey said, her eyes brightening. "Something we haven't done for a while."

*---*

"I like your thinking, Jadey." Penny said, as they all hung out at the Blue Point Diner. "The last time I hung out here was my Junior Christmas with my brother."

"Yeah, now, what do you guys want?" Jadey asked, as a waitress was approaching their table. They all said to each other,

"The usual."

The food came for just a few minutes and they all had their early dinner, fries, a burger and some milkshake.

"Now, tell us your long story that made you look like the queen of the jungle."

"Okay, so let's start with the part where I went to the woods heading to the river." Penny said, and sipped from her strawberry milkshake. "Okay, I know those faces. Anyway, so I paced around and then I slipped on something and I bumped my head a bit hard that it gave me a blackout."

"Ouch. That doesn't like you." Roma commented, on Penny sliding and getting a blackout.

"It's nothing like me. Now, let's go to the craptastic part." She said, inventing a new word. "And then I didn't stand for a few seconds 'cause I was really freakin' dizzy. I heard footsteps coming towards me and then I saw Mr. Chris."

"Oh, and?" the girls asked curiously.

"Since this is a little bit awkward, why don't I just whisper it to you?" Penny asked, and gathered around them closely and murmured something.

"He what?!"

"SHUSH!" Penny whispered.

"That's weird. But, how does it feel now?" Roma asked.

"Oh, that, um, honestly, it's weird. I don't if that's how a kiss is supposed to feel."

"I can't believe it, what do you mean, no more sparks?" Jadey asked.

"Well, yeah, I guess. Something like that. Damn."

"What would you say about kissing Stan?"

"Don't rub it in. It's ruining my day. Oh, right, my day is ruined."

"Aw. I can't wait for you to get over those." Roma said.

"I know, right? I can't wait." Penny said impatiently and bit from her burger.

*---*

Penny walked in the hallways and stared at everyone who were chit chatting about graduation and stuff. Graduation's coming in a couple of days and people were all having different reactions. Some were all excited to go to College together and others were discussing about moving out together with their boyfriends and stuff. She passed by a group of girls who all were looking surprised and talking about the jocks. It was hard to ignore them since their voices were all high-pitched and they were almost yelling. Penny spoke to herself last night and now she changed today.

"Penny! Penny!" someone called after her. She remained walking like she didn't hear and Jadey came after her and walked with her, catching her breath.

"What's with the rush? Got news?" Penny said.

"Yeah, I do. And you're not gonna believe this!"

"I will. Now spit it out." She demanded.

"Okay, um, Stan's moving out after graduation. Somewhere." Jadey said, nervous to see Penny's reaction. But she just walked around and had that straight face. "Now that doesn't look like you."

"What do you mean?" Penny asked.

"And that doesn't sound like you either. Did you take something or what? Oh, no, you're on drugs!" Jadey exclaimed loudly, making people look at them. Penny dragged her quickly to a corridor and walked normally again.

"Jadey, first of all, I'm not, and I mean not, on drugs. Second, I think you'll why that news won't do me anything." She explained, still looking emotionless.

"Oh, right, right about the second one. Well, don't you wanna say goodbye or something?"

"Can't we just do that some other time?" Penny asked, hesitatingly.

"Well, fine." Jadey said. "Oh, speak of the devil…"

"What? Oh, damn." Penny said, as Stan passed by and looked at her. She glared at him for just a few seconds and continued walking like he didn't pass by, something that she usually doesn't do. Stan felt curious if the news had given her the reaction he expected. He stopped walking and looked back and passed by Penny, purposely bumping her shoulder, making her drop her bag. He pretended not to care and just simply walked out. Penny started to look intense and picked her bag and went after him.

"What was that for?" she complained, smacked his arm. He glared at her grinned sheepishly at her reaction.

"That doesn't sound like you." He said.

"Oh, so now even you notice that? Let me guess, three people have noticed that, my brother, my best friend and now you. I guess this is working." She yelled.

"Okay, okay, chill, Penny." He said, trying not to laugh.

"I'm sorry. It's just adrenaline. And I'm not deaf to hearing news, you know. I'm updated too." She said, starting to get calm.

"So, I guess you heard." He stated.

"I did. Really?" she asked. He combed his hair with his fingers and looked down and said,

"No."

"What? You mean,-"

"Yeah." He continued and took some small paces around.

"Then why'd you tell everyone that?" she asked, trying not to sound mad, since she was feeling slightly being lied to.

"Because I wanted to see your reaction." He said, and stood an inch before her. "And I didn't expect that."

"Well, you wouldn't think I would run around and find you and stuff, would you?"

"Actually, I'd think if I would pass by you could've at least said something."

"Okay, do you want to replay it?" she said, sarcastically.

"Penny, stop. You're irritating me." He said, still smiling.

"Okay, I'm serious now, listen Mr. Stan, that surprising-but-it-was-a-lie news made me feel all down for a bit but I'm sorry, I also still feel guilty about what happened for the past few days. And then I had a little me-time and then I just thought of chilling myself for a bit. I'm looking forward to summer, anyway." She said, excited about leaving on summer. Stan flinched about hearing summer which made Penny a bit curious but just ignored it.

"Well, that new you sounded a bit fun. And, it's okay. You know, like, what happened a few days ago." He hinted. "Just, do this for me, one small thing; we'll always be friends, right?"

"Hell, yeah." Penny said, jokingly and pulled him into a hug. As soon as he broke it off, with his arms still around her, he looked at her and smiled.

"Hey, I know that look! I know what you wanna do. And you can't!" Penny warned, and teased at the same, and pointed at Stan's face.

"Haha, I can't believe you knew that. But seriously, it's the last one anyway." He requested her, and grinned again.

"I'm sorry. But, it's not counted anymore to do that." She said. "But, I am good at reading you too."

"Well, I guess." He said.

*---*

"It's fine. Just have one more person." Penny said, thinking of a plan to be friends again with Chris.

"Good. How about the part where you're leaving?" Jadey asked.

"Oh, that, maybe just not now." Penny said. "But I think I have an idea to make him listen."

"Really? That was quick. What is it?"

"You'll know." Penny said, as she was about to leave school.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Before leaving school, Penny was finding where Chris was so that she could try to fix everything with him, if he would listen. As she walked by a bunch of students, she saw him and Gordie about to walk by her. She gave them a short stare and dodged Chris' shoulder on purpose and continued walking ruthlessly. Chris and Gordie stopped walking and Gordie gave a what-was-that-for stare. Chris looked at him frustratingly and came back after Penny. As she noticed him follow her, she knew the plan worked. Was dodging other people walking by really that bad?

"What the hell was that for?" he said, angrily.

"That was the same thing I said to him." She said to herself, but almost too audible for everyone to hear. "Anyway, you should know why."

"Well, I don't know." Chris said, and folded his arms.

"Chris, don't you have a countdown for graduation? We only have two freaking days! And, I can't graduate being mad at someone. Or that someone is mad at me."

"Why? Are you mad at that 'someone' because that 'someone' kissed you yesterday?" Chris said, sarcastically referring to himself.

"Actually, I'm not mad, I'm annoyed. I mean like, what the hell?"

"I can't believe you. Things have changed now." Chris said, disbelievingly.

"Well, you have to. And more things are gonna change in the future." Penny said, almost sounding like begging. "Please?"

"I don't know, Pen." Chris said.

"I already said 'please'. We can't just stay like this forever. We have to move on."

"Well, yeah. We have to. Now, we're friends? Just friends?" He asked.

"Yes, we are. Just promise me one thing." Penny requested.

"Anything." Chris said, willingly and took a step closer to her.

"Promise me that we'll still be friends whatever happens. And I mean, whatever happens." Penny said.

"Well, okay, I'm promise." He said.

"Good." She said, and pulled him into a hug. Penny broke it off and looked at him curiously and they both began walking together. "That was weird."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Now, I have to go home. Good bye." Penny said, and went to another direction. Chris looked a bit surprised and gave a small wave.

"Wait, let me take you." He said, and held on to her elbow.

"No, thanks. I already have someone to go with." She lied, and started to walk when he dropped her arm and looked at him and smiled.

*---*

"I think things are gonna get pretty good on our graduation." Penny predicted while hanging with Johnny in the Blue Point diner.

"Well, good for you. One question, what came into your mind to hang out here?"

"I just thought that 'cause you haven't hung out here for a long time. And, it's our last chance to hang out here since we're leaving."

"I kind of miss hanging out here." He breathed, and sipped from his strawberry milkshake. "Hey, I heard Stan's moving out."

"What? Oh, that's not true."

"How so?" he challenged.

"Well, I asked him about it and he said he was just trying to see my reaction." She said sadly.

"Oh, so you felt sad when you heard about it, huh?" he teased.

"No, J! He was the one who pulled me into talking. And now we're friends again." She reported happily. "And I mean, just friends. Even with Christopher."

"Now, that's a different story, because usually this is the part where you choose which guy you wanna be with."

"That kind of story sucks. That happened once, but I don't want it to happen again." She said, and tapped the table.

"Well, cool. And, oh, look, it's your friend." Johnny said jokingly, and pointed at the door. Penny turned back to see who is it and her eyes widened.

"Johnny, we need to go!" she whispered, and grabbed his hand and hid in a corner 'til Stan and his friends found a table. A waiter approached them, making it a perfect distraction. Penny grabbed Johnny's wrist and they both pushed the doors out of the restaurant.

"Trying to hide from your friend?" Johnny asked, as they walked on the streets with some people about to cross.

"I'm in a hurry!" she protested, and looked back again and grabbed Johnny's wrist and dashed home.

**Hi…Sorry if it's too short. Don't worry; I'll post the chapter as fast as I can. Just a few more days 'til my graduation. Damn, I wanna get this freakin' graduation over with! Too lazy to practice and I really want summer so bad!!!!! Anyway, REVIEW. By the way, David Beckham rocks!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Graduates, please rise."

Penny stood quickly, after snapping out of some kind of thinking session of the future. She stared at the other side of rows of chairs where the boys sat and saw Chris at the second row, and Stan almost to the last smile at her at the same time, since they were seated alphabetically. She didn't know who to look at so she just looked away and smiled to herself.

Soon, the graduates started to receive their diplomas. They were almost done with letter B so Penny started lining up beside the stage. Chris stood up and lined up a few students from her since Penny was almost to the last.

"Good luck going up there." Jadey and Roma said, as they passed by them casually and tapped her shoulder and headed back to their alphabetized seats.

"Chambers, Christopher!"

Penny looked at Chris as he went up the stage and got his diploma. He didn't even bother to look at everyone since they weren't clapping that much at him.

"Whoa, that was fast." Penny whispered to herself. "Wait, it's almost me."

"Connors, Jamie Penny Dean R.!"

"Okay, let's do this." She said, and walked five steps and unto the stage. She smiled as she got her diploma from her Mr. Williams and shook hands with him, which felt warm and to their principal and winked to her parents and brother who were waving at her.

It didn't take too soon 'til all the students were done being called to receive their diplomas. Stan was coming up and Penny knew that Stan was planning to have his moment on the stage. And sooner, Stan's name was called. And almost everyone heard the cheers from his parents and saw that some of Stan's relatives were there, particularly his cousin, who looked like they all lived from the View. She smiled, and controlled her laughter and faced Stan as he received his diploma. His teammates, friends and a lot of girls cheered and gave a loud applause as he smiled at everyone and jumped randomly while walking.

The senior graduates were all starting cheer once they all finally graduated and they all threw their hats above, which was the common thing you see at a typical graduation. Red hats flew and sooner dropped everywhere. Families started approaching each other and you could see people started to hug. Penny saw her mom, Johnny, and soon-to-be dad run to her and gave her a group hug.

"Hey, Pen, guess what, you made it!" Johnny said excitedly, and gave her a tight hug.

"Thanks, Johnny. I couldn't have done this without you. And mom, you've always been there for me." She said, and gave her a hug. She faced her soon-to-be dad. "Mr. Stefan, thanks for doing this. I'm happy that I'm having you as a dad."

He didn't say anything. He just smiled lightly and pulled her into a hug. Johnny soon started chatting about random stuff 'til he saw Penny's friends coming from behind.

"Hey, you might wanna check them out." Johnny warned, jokingly and pointed at Gordie, Chris, Teddy, Vern, Jadey, and Roma.

"I guess you're right." She said, and approached them. "Hey, guys."

"Aw, Pen. Can you believe it? We just graduated." Jadey said, and gathered everyone into another big group hug.

"Wow, guys, we're all group hugging around the place and it gets bigger." Vern observed.

"What a great observation, Verno." Teddy said, laughed oddly.

"Chris, come here." Penny said, in a low tone. He walked slowly to her.

"What?"

"I just wanna say that I'm gonna miss you, all the times we had together, especially at our good 'ole tree house, when I used to kiss you, and hanging out, making plans and you know, a lot of things. I won't forget that, especially you."

"Really, Pen? I guess, I'm really gonna miss those times when we used to be together. But, hey, we can still hang out this summer, right? I mean, we're still friends." He said, and held both her wrists.

"Uh-yeah. Of course." She said, unsurely. "Just remember to keep your promise."

"Okay. I always will." He said, confidently. They both smiled at each other and had some laughs. Penny saw someone behind him and she knew she had to do something.

"Chris, could you excuse me for a moment?" she asked him and he nodded and spoke to Gordie. Penny approached Stan with his teammates or what he also considers 'friends'.

"Happy graduation, guys!" Penny said, and hugged all of them and kissed them all on the cheek.

"You're lucky you get to kiss us all even though you aren't a cheerleader." Stan joked and smiled.

"Yeah. Hey, Stan, I'm gonna miss you. A lot." Penny said, sadly.

"What? Oh, I get it. It's everyone's common statement. Now, c'mon, we can always hang out after this." He comforted her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"And what you said is what I keep hearing from all of my friends."

"Well, it's true! C'mon, Penny, it's not like I live a thousand miles from you." He said, and grinned.

"I don't too." She said, sounding a bit guilty, since she's moving more than a thousand miles from this town. Randomly, Stan ran his fingers through his fixed hair, making it a little ruined. Penny blushed several times and saw his good-looking cousin walking to them, with Stan's parents and two relatives.

"Gosh, I didn't know you were just as good-looking as your cousin. But I think your cousin's better-looking than you are." She joked.

"Oh, so you like him now, huh?" He said, with a bit sadness and anger in his voice.

"I'm just kidding, man! But seriously, you guys are like brothers."

"Yeah, but I hate him." He whispered and soon faced back to see his family come to him. He grabbed Penny's hand from behind, with his hands on his back.

"Charlie. Aunt Rose." He greeted seriously, and gave them a nod.

"So, I see you have a special someone to celebrate graduation with aside from your friends." She said, as she looked at Penny. She flicked her curly, brown hair that looked really shiny. Her eyes were green and stared arrogantly but she had this sarcastic smile under her dark red lipstick. She really looked like she lived from the View. And also like Stan's mom.

"Yes, this is Penny. Penny, this is my aunt Rose." He said.

"It's nice to meet you. It's smart of you to choose to my nephew. He's just one of a kind." Rose bragged, but smiled as if it was a joke.

"Well, we're not really dating. We're just friends." Penny said, and gave a small laugh.

"Hmm, friends it is?" she said, and walked away. But left this fine-looking boy, which appeared to be Stan's cousin.

"Just in case you don't want to introduce me to your so-called 'friend' and nothing more, I'll do it myself." Charlie said to Stan. "Hey, there, I'm Charles, Stan' cousin and Rose's son."

"Hi, I'm Penny. You know what, you and Stan really look a lot like each other." She complemented and stared at him and then at Stan.

"Not really. I'm better-looking." He joked, held his head high and Stan looked at him and Penny almost about to protest.

"Well, you both look good-looking, you guys live in the View?"

"Oh, my mom and I don't live in the View." Charlie said. "We actually just visit here when my mom feels like. We're from LA."

"I see that."

"Well, I better go. So, I'll see you around." He said, and left. He looked back again one last time and winked at Penny and she waved back.

"See? He's really annoying!" Stan said, and faced her again.

"No, he's not! Or maybe you just don't wanna admit that he's better-looking than you are." Penny teased, and laughed around.

"Hey, listen, I'm better than him, and a lot of girls would date me and I know you want to." He said, confidently and placed his hands on Penny's cheeks.

"Alright, Mr. Stan." She said, and yanked his hands off her face. "Hey, listen, are you going to the Graduation party later?"

"Are you?"

"I asked first, so you answer mine." She demanded.

"Well, I'm not." He said, and folded his arms and looked away.

"Aw, why not?"

"Because I don't have anyone to go with. I mean, all my friends wanna go with their girlfriends."

"Don't you have any girl you wanna ask? There are a lot of girls in our school." She suggested.

"Fine, can you come with me?"

"Aside from me."

"But you're the girl I wanna ask." He protested.

"Well, there're gotta be someone."

"There isn't. Now, are you gonna make me beg?" he said, impatiently.

"Okay, fine. I'll go with you. But, just as friends and you're gonna hang out with my friends too." She said. "Okay? And no complaints."

"Sure. Anything for you." He said, and grinned to kiss her on the cheek but Penny looked away. "What? I'm a good boy!"

"You might not wanna do that right now because I can see your parents coming and your mom looks like she really really wants to hug you."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll see you at the party." He said, and walked to his parents and Penny went to find her friends.

*---*

"Hey, I'm back." She said, brightly approaching Chris and his friends.

"Yeah, and I see you're talking to rich people now, huh?" Chris said, and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, that was his aunt and cousin. They don't actually live here. They just came to visit." She stated.

"Okay. Well, guess what, we're all going to the Graduation party right?" he asked, including everybody.

"Yeah, we are. But, is it okay if Stan comes?" Penny requested.

"He has a lot of friends and a lot of girls are following him. Can't he just go with someone else?" Chris complained, but Penny's face and arms dropped.

"That's kind of hard to explain but, he doesn't want to ask any girl and his friends all have dates." She said, but Chris still disagreed of Stan going with them. "I already said 'yes', and besides, he's also my friend. And, if you're my friend, you're gonna have to hang out with my other friends too. And try to be friends with them too."

"Well, I'll befriend your other friends anytime. But he won't be a friend of mine."

"Fine. Then you won't be a friend of mine either." Penny said, folding her arms and starting to walk away.

"Hey, stay, okay, fine he can come." Chris said, pulling her elbow. Penny gave a small smile and said,

"I'm just playin', man. Of course, you'll always be my friend."

"So, now that means that-"

"But, you already said it. He's still coming." She interrupted him, before he protests.

"Fine." He breathed, and tried to change the subject.

"So guys, I better get going. See you at the party." Penny said to her friends.

"Wait, where are you going?" Gordie asked.

"I'm gonna hang out, with my family." She said, and walked slowly while facing them. "Bye, guys."

"Bye." Everyone said, and waved. She nodded and went to find her mom and brother.

**Heyy! Sorry it took me a really long time to update. I really got busy after Graduation and this summer, I'm really trying to find time to finish this since I've got training and stuff. But, I promise I will finish this story as soon as possible. Thank you so much for the reviews and I'm looking forward for more. And by the way, what team are you guys supporting on the 2010 FIFA World Cup? Well, after three years of cheering for England, I'm now with Brazil. BRAZIL!!!! **


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"What are you doing, I thought you were supposed to attend the Graduation party?" Johnny asked, as his entered Penny's room and saw her packing some stuff into a medium-sized box.

"I am. I just don't wanna be that early." She said, and placed a picture in the box.

"Hey, that's our Prom! And our batch photo! What are all these stuff doing here?" he exclaimed, and took out all the pictures he saw and looked at them.

"Yeah, they are. Now stop ruining them!" She said, and grabbed the pictures from his hand.

"What are you gonna do with all those stuff?"

"I'm gonna keep them."

"You're still keeping those? C'mon, Penny, forget it. You just graduated."

"I can't forget them, J. They've been a part of me already." She protested, and stood up from her bed.

"Okay, okay, relax. Don't be mad. Hey, what are you doing?" he said, when Penny opened her closet and took off her shorts.

"I need to get ready. Now, leave. Or if you don't mind, you can stay." She said, and took off her shirt and looked for a dress. As she was looking for something to wear, she heard the door slam, which meant that Johnny must've left. She found a sleeveless knee length beige dress. She chose it and looked for some shoes. She found some 3-inch pumps and layered necklaces to add some style. And for one last touch, she brushed her hair for the first time since early this morning and wore a thick brown ribbon-made headband.

"That was fast." Someone said, from behind, making Penny jump and her eyes widen.

"How the hell could you open the door without a single sound, Johnny?" she asked.

"It's magic." He said, waving his hand in front of his face.

"Yeah, maybe you should be a magician." She said, and started to pace around the room.

"But, hey, you know, you look great." He said, and held her arm.

"Thanks."

"Do you want me to take you?" he offered.

"Sure."

*---*

Penny arrived at a house of some senior who lived in the View and planned to have a Graduation for all the seniors. Her house was big enough for everyone and had three floors. The house's gate was opened since a lot of seniors were coming. Penny entered the gate and saw this large white mansion with all their lights opened, a buffet, some tables, music and a drinking bar inside.

"So this is what it's come from." Someone from behind said. Penny looked who it is and saw Stan come from behind her.

"Hey, you're here." She said, and looked at him. He was wearing some slacks and a white buttoned-up shirt. His hair was gelled up again making it looked spiked in the middle.

"Yeah, and so you are. You look great." He breathed, and they both started walking in the house.

"I could say the same about you. Do you wanna drink?" she invited him.

"I would love to. I'm buying you." He said. They both sat near the bartender and he asked for two beers. "So, where are your friends?"

"I don't know. I'm sure they'll be coming." She said, and drank some.

"And I think they're here." He said, looking at the door, but Penny didn't hear him and just continued drinking. Stan turned his back and looked at her and started to drink too.

"Hey, Pen!" Chris said, from behind and sat beside her. The others followed and surrounded them and all ordered some beer.

"Hey, guys. What's with all the excitement?" she asked, as they were all becoming unruly as they sat with her.

"Oh, nothing we're just really happy." Gordie said.

"Wait, hey, Chris, I hope you won't be drunk no more." Teddy warned. "I still remember what happened to you a couple of years ago. You were a mess."

"What happened to him?" Penny asked curiously.

"Well, we were hanging out one Friday and Chris almost drank ten bottles of it and then he starts acting shitty."

"What kind of shit?"

"He starts talking about stuff and then he suddenly goes near this bitch. Now trust me, Chris loses his taste for girls when he's drunk."

"Ew. What the hell did you guys do about it?"

"Luckily, I stopped him." Gordie said.

"That's a good one, Gordie. And maybe now is the time you watch how many bottles Chris will be drinking before they reach ten."

"C'mon, I won't drink too much tonight. I don't have that much problems right now." Chris promised and took a sip. "Another one, please."

The bartender handed Chris another beer. Penny looked at his empty bottle which he finished in almost less than a minute.

"This is gonna be a tough night." She breathed to herself, but Stan heard her and gave a curious stare. He nodded and rubbed her back as her forehead was rested on the table.

*---*

After a few days, Penny started packing up and said her goodbye's to her friends except the boys. It was the day before they left and Penny was out with Jadey and Roma on her yard.

"Do you think you should tell him now?" Jadey asked. "Time's running out, Penny."

"I don't know. I just don't know how." Penny said and stood up and paced around and folded her arms.

"Just say something like, I'm leaving, I'll miss you and stuff like what people say in the movies." Jadey suggested.

"Oh, you mean like, Hey Chris, hey Stan, I'm leaving. It's not that easy!" Penny exclaimed and walked around in circles. "And maybe I just won't tell them then."

"And then leave and then they'll ask us where you are and we tell them you're gone? They could get hurt." Roma said.

"Well, I don't know! It's like I wanna tell them but I can't because I don't know what to expect!" Penny whined, and started walking backwards on the side walk. Her friends followed after her as she kept going on and on about it until they noticed someone at her back.

"Um, Penny, I think that-" Jadey said, but Penny interrupted.

"That what? I should tell them?!" she asked. "I don't even know if-"

"Penny, stop." Jadey interrupted her again. Penny stopped and breathed quickly. "You might wanna look behind you."

Penny nervously looked behind her and saw the last person she wanted to see.

"Stan, um, did you hear all of that?" she asked him. The girls simply walked away to give them some space. Stan looked at her seriously, like a dad or something.

"Just the part that you were whining so loudly."

"So, you know it." She stated.

"About?"

"About the thing that I didn't want to say to."

"Well, do me this favor first. Let me tell you something and promise me you won't react or interrupt. Anyway, this is gonna be the last of it." He asked and Penny nodded.

"I already told you this but you thought it wasn't true. If you're telling me that you're leaving, guess what, I am too." He confessed.

"What? Where are you going?"

"Listen, I'm going back to LA that's why my cousin is here. And then, my mom decided that we move to Spain. We're leaving this afternoon."

"Oh." Penny was left speechless. She didn't expect that what he said would be real.

"Yeah, so now it's your turn to explain."

"I have nothing to explain." Penny said, and turned her back, walking away ruthlessly.

"You have a lot to explain, Jamie." He said, almost sounding frustrated and grabbed her arm.

"Don't you know how hard is it to explain something that hurts me? I didn't want to do this but I agreed to do it because I know I'll be thanking myself in the future." She said.

"Oh, so it does hurt you." He breathed.

"Yes, so much. I'm gonna miss my friends, our old house, our school."

"How about me?" he asked, and placed his hands on her shoulder.

"Yeah! A lot!" she said, and pulled him into a hug. Stan's hand rubbed her back and broke it off quickly and placed his hands on her face.

"Can you just tell where, when and why are you going?" he asked discreetly. Penny slowly took a deep breath and took out his hands off her face.

"We're leaving for Boston tomorrow because my mom's getting married. And, our future dad wants us to live there."

"I see that. And, it's okay with you? No objections or anything?"

"Yes." She said and looked at his face, he wasn't smiling. He looked serious. The first time Penny saw him serious was right now. "Hey, are you mad that I didn't tell you?"

"No, I'm not. I guess, this is just how things go. People leave some stay and some just disappear. Do your other friends know already about this?"

"No." she admitted.

"Oh. Good luck telling them." He said, and smiled and turned his back and slowly walked. Penny stood there thinking of what to do or say but she had this reflex.

"Hey, where are you going?" she asked, and pulled his arm. "That's it?"

"What do you mean 'that's it'?" He asked.

"Aren't you say goodbye or say that you'll miss me?" she demanded.

"Okay. Goodbye, Penny." He said, sarcastically.

"No, you have to tell me something."

"I did."

"Stop annoying me! I'm serious."

"Okay, I'm sorry. I just don't know how to tell you this but,-" he paused.

"Just tell me. This might be the last time we'd talk anyway."

"Being with you was like the best thing that ever happened to me aside from soccer." He confessed, and smiled seeing those memories in his mind.

"But we were never together."

"We weren't. But, as I tried to be."

"Yeah, but my heart belongs to someone else that time. Until the time came I got it back and it now belongs just to me." Penny said, sounding a bit ruthless.

"I guess it'll never be mine." He chuckled. "But still, being with you as a friend, it was worth it."

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss you a lot." She said, and pulled me into a hug.

"Me too." He agreed, and kissed her forehead.

"Don't ever change. If you plan to, change for the better." She reminded him. "And I hope you're good at Spanish."

"Lucky I know. And same with you. I don't know when the time will that we all get to see each other again."

"The time will come." She promised, as if she could keep it and hugged him even more.

*---*

"Gordie, we need to talk!" Jadey said urgently, running to Vern's yard. They just came from Penny's house since they left her with Stan.

"Girls, welcome. Especially you, J." Teddy said. "What brings you two here without Penny?"

"That's why we're here. Penny has a message for you two. Wait, where's Chris and Vern?" Jadey asked and looked around.

"They're buying more beers." Gordie said.

"Oh, good. 'Cause this'll only be told to the two of you."

"Well, what the hell is it?" Teddy asked, impatiently.

"Penny's leaving. Tomorrow." Roma reported.

"What? For a vacation or something?" Teddy asked, surprisingly.

"No. She's gonna move out and leave for Boston."

"They planned this before graduation but she only told us." Jadey said.

"Wow. I don't know what Chris'll say. He still loves her, you know." Gordie said.

"That's why she can't say it to dear Chris. But she agreed to this. She thinks it's for the best."

"Why don't we tell it to Chris?" Gordie suggested.

"That could be. But how?" Roma asked.

"Well, I do remember Chris telling me that Penny said something that they would be friends 'whatever' happens. And Penny gave an emphasis on that 'whatever' thingy. I could remind Chris of that thing and then tell him that Penny's moving out and that's what 'whatever' means. And then the rest will follow." He planned and smiled proudly.

"You're a genius, Gordo." Jadey said, and high-fived with him.

"You call that genius?" Teddy interrupted.

"Whatever, Teddy. It's not like you can come up with the plan that quick." Jadey teased, and patted his head, ruining his hair.

"Hey, don't touch that!" he whined, making everybody laugh at him. The girls soon planned to leave since they had to go back to Penny, so they brought the boys to say their goodbyes. Gordie asked Vern's mom to tell Chris and Vern that they just left to go somewhere and will be back shortly, without telling where they will go. They all saw Penny sitting on her yard, drinking a soda.

"Penny, we're back." Jadey said, and Penny stood up and looked at the people behind her.

"You told them?" she asked her, pointing at the boys.

"Just the two of them."

"Hey, Gordie, Teddy." She said, and pulled them into a hug.

"Where's Stan?" Roma asked, suddenly.

"He's gone. But everything worked between the two of us. He's leaving for Los Angeles this afternoon and then to Spain after a couple of days."

"I see."

"Gordie, Teddy, thanks for everything. Now, you guys know."

"But I'm still gonna tell Chris. We already have a plan." Gordie said.

"What plan?" she asked. Gordie explained the plan he thought of and Penny couldn't believe just what he thought of.

"You're a genius! Chris really tells you a lot of things, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, a lot. Now, I know I'm a genius." Gordie said, proudly and looked at Teddy, who disagreed.

"Just one favor, when you tell him, can you let him talk to me for one last time before I leave?" Penny asked.

"Sure." Gordie said, and gave her one last hug, and so did everyone and they formed a big group hug.

"Well, we better get going, Pen." Gordie said, and stood up followed by Teddy.

"Bye, guys." The girls said all together and they both waved back.

*---*

The boys came back and saw Chris and Vern starting to drink some beer.

"You guys just came?" Gordie asked.

"Yeah." Chris said, and handed Gordie a bottle.

"Thanks, man." Gordie said. Teddy looked at Gordie and gave him a tell-it-to-him stare.

"Okay, Teddy, okay." Gordie said, sarcastically. "Chris, you and I need to talk. Alone."

"Well, okay." He said and followed Gordie inside the house. "So, what's with the serious tone?"

"This is about Penny."

"Penny? What about her?" he asked curiously.

"Well, she's, she's, she's leaving."

**Here you go guys. Okay, two more chapters and I'm DONE. Woohoo, can't wait** **to get this over with. Thank you so much for the reviews!! I really appreciate it. **


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Chris stood frozen and confused. He first thought that maybe it was just a vacation or something but Gordie's tone didn't sound like a vacation at all.

"Chris, say something." Gordie said, worriedly. Chris walked away and left the house without saying a word. He passed by Teddy who was laughing and teasing Vern for spilling the beer on his shirt while opening it.

"Oh, hey, Chris, c'mon, where are you goi-" Teddy said, and discontinued what he said as he saw Chris leave quickly without saying a word.

"That doesn't look good." Vern said, nervously. Gordie came out of the door and yelled after Chris,

"Why don't you say 'goodbye' to her?"

"Do you think it's that easy to deal with?" Chris complained, while facing them for a while and turned his back and left the yard quickly. Gordie followed him and ran after him and held unto Chris's back.

"Get off me, man!" He yelled, but not sounding too offending for Gordie and dashed away from the place before Gordie could catch up.

"He can't deal with goodbyes." Gordie stated, and sat with them, catching his breath and grabbed a bottle.

"Well, what are you gonna do now?" Teddy said, and smoked a cigarette. "Guys want some?"

"Yeah, thanks." They said altogether and lit their cigarettes.

"I don't know what Penny will say about this." Gordie said, planning to stop by Penny's house tonight.

Penny was sitting on her bed that night. It was around seven in the evening and she was listening to the Beach Boys on her radio, thinking of stuff that happened this morning, and about the future. She had this sort of temporary anxiety about the future. She closed her eyes and rested the back of her head on her headboard and closed her eyes. She heard a stone hid the side of her window which made her almost jump from bed. She stood up and opened her window and saw Gordie below, holding three stones in his hand.

"Do you have to throw those or are you just trying to break our window?" she said.

"Just let me in." he demanded impatiently.

"Fine. Give me a second." Penny said, and went in to her closet to look for some old blankets. She found four and tied them all together. She dropped the long tied-up blankets down from the window.

"It's too short."

Penny used her own blanket and added it to the rope made of blankets.

"Is that better?" she asked.

"I'll try." Gordie said, and held on to the rope. "Make sure you securely tied this altogether."

The rope blanket was tied on to her window and Gordie made it all the way almost to it. He hopped inside her room and pulled in the rope before anyone could see it.

"Alright, I have to tell you something." He said urgently, and sat on Penny's bed.

"Okay." Penny said casually and sat on her bean bag and turned down the radio.

"Beach Boys?" Gordie asked, when he heard what Penny was listening to.

"Yeah, I love them and their song Surfin' Safari." She said.

"Oh, I didn't know you loved those guys." He said.

"Well, now you know." She said, and smiled. "Now, speak."

"Okay, when I came back to Vern's house, Chris was back." He started. Penny listened with her legs and arms crossed.

"So, that's when I asked Chris if we could have a one-on-one inside." He continued.

"Go on."

"I didn't actually stick to the plan because things were going too quick and stuff. But I told him that you're leaving." He admitted.

"So you're saying that you didn't remind him about the promise thingy and went straight to telling him that I'm leaving?" She asked, almost sounding like she was about to attack Gordie.

"Yeah, yeah, something like that. Hey, could you relax?" He said, feeling awkward with Penny.

"Anyway, when I told him, he didn't talk or anything. He just stood there and after a few seconds, he just left."

"Like, walking out?"

"Yeah. "

"Well, what did you guys do?"

"I went back after him but he didn't want, so I just let him go and think of another plan." He said confidently.

"Okay, Mr. Plan. That was quite tough for you. I'm sorry. " Penny said, and stood up and sat beside him on her bed.

"It's alright, Pen, it's alright. And I also forgot to tell you, I told him to say 'goodbye' to you but he said something like it's hard to deal with goodbyes." He remembered.

Penny didn't speak for a moment and breathed heavily.

"I think we should go to him." She stated.

"Now that's why I'm also here. I'm not just Mr. Plan, I'm Mr. Encourage."

"Encourage? For what?" she asked confusingly.

"Well, maybe you should be the one to remind Chris about the promise thingy and talk it off. I would be honored to accompany you to him but I promise I'll give you guys some space." He offered.

"I love you, Gordo." She said, and stood up and put on her shoes and threw down the rope blanket through the window.

"Wait, we're going now?" he asked, as he stood from her bed and put back on his shoes.

"Yeah. C'mon, Gordie, I'm leaving tomorrow." She reminded him, and started climbing down. She reached the bottom and stepped flatly on the ground, rubbing her reddened palms. Gordie too went down with her and they both walked to Chris's house which was on another street.

As they stood before his house, they heard his dad yelling uncontrollably to someone. They looked at each other nervously, thinking who it was.

"Do you think Chris is in his room?" Penny asked.

"I see lights in his room, maybe he's there. You could climb using that tree. Lucky they planted a tree beside his room window." Gordie pointed out.

"Alright." Penny nodded and climbed over this white picket fence and unto the tree. She looked back at Gordie who was still standing, watching her.

"I didn't know that tonight's theme was about climbing everyone's windows." She said to herself and grabbed unto a branch. She sat on it for a moment, nervously looking at Chris's window. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and knocked on it. She saw a shadow come near it and she knew it was Chris. He opened the window without a word and walked away. Penny entered his room and shut his window. She looked around at his room; it was white, like the house, not that small though, with a small bed and a closet. It wasn't that clean or organized, it wasn't cluttered either. Chris walked to his bed and lay down on his palms.

"Well, speak." She said.

"What do we need to talk about?" Chris said, without looking at her.

"Oh, so now, you're saying that we don't need to talk? Damn it, then you should've not opened your window then." She exclaimed, and flapped her arms on her waist and sat on Chris's bed.

"So why don't you just leave? You didn't have to climb up here while my dad's downstairs yelling at my mom. He could come up here anytime." He warned.

"I'm not leaving until you say the g-word and some other sentences that you know you should say." She told him and hinted.

"The g-word?"

"Chris, I know Gordie told you." Penny said, starting to feel impatient. Chris stood up from his bed and looked away from her gaze.

"Yeah, he did tell me." He said, his voice sounding flat.

"Well, what did you do?" she asked, and folded her arms again.

"What do you think I did?" he yelled and faced her. "Don't act like you don't know everything because you know it!"

"Yes, Chris, I know everything!" she yelled back, and stood before him.

"Well, if you know everything, then why the hell do you keep asking me about that crap?"

"Because I wanna know why you did that!" She said, and breathed quickly.

"Then ask yourself! Who planned on moving out without even telling her friends?"

"Chris, I did tell some of my friends but I didn't you guys." She explained. "You don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"How hard is it to do the right thing!"

"What's so right about not telling?" he challenged.

"Listen, I knew it was the right thing to move on but it's hard to do that. I mean, my whole life is in this small town! This is where things happen to me!"

"Things happen to you here? Hell, Penny, more things would happen to you when you're out of here. This isn't the whole world." He said, his face looking disgusted. He started asking Penny to leave his room since he didn't think it was the right time and place for their almost-argument.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked, trying to understand his point.

"Don't miss this town, there's nothing worth missing here." He advised.

"I didn't say I would miss this town. I'm gonna miss the people in this town." She explained. They soon began talking discreetly instead off almost yelling at each other. They were sitting together on Chris's bed and having a very awkward silence.

"Aren't you gonna leave or what?" he said, but not wanting her to. She stood up from his bed and walked slowly to his window. He stood too and stopped her.

"I thought you wanted me to leave?"

He just shrugged. Penny gave him a chance and said,

"Okay, just give me a chance."

"What chance?" he asked, confused.

He didn't notice that their faces were getting closer and Penny met his lips, asking him for a chance to kiss him for the last time, even though they were just friends and nothing more. He kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her waist. She took a step backwards, trying to breathe but he followed her and walked to his bed. Penny didn't know where she walking since it was backwards until she fell on his bed. She pulled away for a second to breathe and used her left leg and push Chris off her. She hit his right knee lightly and he got off her and rolled to her side. They looked at each other, as they were lying beside each other.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm sorry." She said, feeling a pinch of regret. Now it made it even harder for her to let go because of kissing him. But it didn't anymore make a difference. Things were different now and she knew that she would never give him a chance to be together again, thinking they were better off as friends.

"No, no, it's alright." He said.

"It's not! Chris, I did something wrong. Now it made me miss you even more." She said painfully.

"So you mean it's still there?" he asked. He thought they still had a chance to be together, he always thought of that, even if Penny was far across the country.

"No, not anymore." She admitted.

"Then why the hell did you kiss me? It's like you're trying to fool me or something." He said, and sat up.

"That's why I'm saying sorry! I just wanted to do that for the last time." She explained, sounding hurt. She wasn't trying to fool anyone this time, if that didn't look like fooling.

"Yeah, I understand. I'm sorry for what I said to you." He said, and felt sorry for her. "I know this will be the last time for us. But hey, do you think we can still do this from again and just send letters,-"

"No, Chris, I can't do that." She interrupted, before he thought of anything else.

"Oh, right." He said, and looked at her while she was staring on the floor.

"Maybe writing to Stan would hurt too." She said to herself, trying to make it sound like a whisper but it was too audible for Chris to hear it clearly.

"What?" he asked, pretending he didn't hear it clearly.

"Oh, nothing." She said.

"Hey, I heard it." He said. "Tell me anything. We're still friends."

"It's just that, I didn't know he was leaving too, well he just left this morning and I just found out that the rumor that he spread at school was true but he told me it was just to see my reaction and then this morning, he heard talking about leaving and then we both spilled." She told him, and remembered everything they've talked about, and saw that image in her head.

"To test your reaction? Why? To see if you would run after him or stop him or something?" he said, disgusted and thinking it was stupid. "Damn, he never gives up and comes up with those stupid plans!"

"C'mon, Chris, I think he just did that because I think they already planned leaving before that. I mean, every time we'd talk he would mention that. But he's gone now, and it sometimes makes me guilty because he got that chance, but he's still happy, though. He said to me it was worth it." She told Chris, and had a tiny smile.

"I'm sorry, Penny but it still doesn't change the fact that I still hate him." Chris said, and laughed.

"Yeah, I know that." She said.

"Hey, can I ask you a question? I know it's gonna sound stupid but-"

"It's okay, it's okay, you can ask me anything." Penny interrupted.

"Did you ever, kiss Stanley?" he slowly asked nervously, making Penny flinched at hearing his name. She looked at him, surprised but thinking of being honest for a while.

"Well, um, yeah, I did." She admitted. She looked at Chris's face which turned from curious to ruthless. She regretted of telling him the truth and tried to say something to stop seeing like that but he started to speak.

"Did you sleep with him?" he asked again. Penny felt a bit irritated with his question. Why the hell he would ask that, she thought.

"Chris, why the hell are you asking me that?" she protested. "Hell, just get over it. He's gone!"

"Basic." He scoffed. "You slept with him."

"Chris, I did not! And I swear on my father's grave!" she said, starting to beg him to believe her, her face looked like she was begging on her knees but they were usually like this when they were having arguments. But this time, Penny was the one who started it.

"Really? How could you prove it?" he challenged.

"I don't have to prove anything to you because you trust and believe me. We're still friends no matter what relationship we have! Listen, I went here because I wanted to make sure that we both know that we are together no matter how far we are, who we are and what we're doing. You and I may change but we'll be friends no matter what." She said, feeling like she was taking out some kind of bullet from her chest by vomiting it out.

Chris fell silent for what she said. His electric blue stared deep into hers, and he started to miss her. Those words were like them, back in those years. He understood that he may never bring those back and bring her back to him.

"Chris, please say something." She said, worriedly. They were now standing face to face, in front of his window hearing nothing but a cricket from outside.

"Penny, I miss you." He said that it hurt him so badly. His voice was shaking like he was about to cry and he pulled Penny into a hug. As soon as they broke away, Penny spoke.

"Why would you miss right away? I'm even leaving yet. I'm leaving tomorrow." She said.

"I miss those old times, Penny. And I know we can't bring those back. That what you said made me remember those and miss you. But it also made me feel better at the same time." He explained, and held unto her wrists.

"I know that will never come back, but just remember, we both knew it happened and we got a lot of proof." She said, and grinned. They both looked at the clocked that made a sound every hour. It was nine o'clock in the evening. They started back at each other and they both knew what it means.

"I guess you better skedaddle your way home." He said, and opened his window.

"Yeah, thank you, Christopher. And, hey, I know you have a dream career." She said, and she stepped her right leg first. Chris just smiled and shrugged.

"Well, maybe."

"Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, man." She said, and stretched her leg out of the window, unto the tree, followed by her left foot. The whole time she was climbing down, Chris watched her from his window, which was still wide open. After climbing the white picket fence, Penny glanced one last time to Chris's window, and waved. He smiled and waved back. He stared through the window until Penny disappeared.

**Hey guys! Sorry again it took too long. I mean, I had a lot of vacations, training and stuff like that. Well, at least I found time to finish this. I promise just two more to go. Gosh, while doing this chapter I've been crying about two things. First, this chapter makes me feel sad. Second, I feel upset because this is the last time I'll ever this boy. Okay, we're not actually together but we're friends and maybe he doesn't know that I cared for him. I don't know when am I ever gonna see him again. So, yeah, I feel so upset. So, to forget the sad stuff, just gimme reviews. **** Thanks for all those took time to read this note. I appreciate your concern. I don't care if you don't care that I'm really upset right now, but it still counts that you care because you read this. Ta-ta! I love ya'll.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The night moved so fast, and it was around seven in the morning but it seemed like it was already noon. Almost every store was opened already and everyone was awake. Even Gordie and the boys were, except Chris. This was actually the first time Chris slept in. He'd usually be the first to wake up and wake the rest. Gordie was hanging out with Teddy and Vern around the town, roaming around.

"Hey, Gordo, where's Chris?" Vern asked, drinking some root beer and chewing some Twinkies.

"He's sleeping in." Gordie said.

"Must be tired of what he did with Penny maybe." Teddy thought, and laughed.

"You're sick, Teddy." Gordie said, and looked around. He saw someone running towards them. He stood up to take a better look. It wasn't Chris though, it was a girl. "Penny what are you doing here?"

"Just wanna walk around. And then I saw you guys." She said, and sat between Teddy and Gordie. "Where's Chris?"

"He's sleeping in." Gordie said.

"Oh," she said, surprised and touched the dark circles below her eyes.

"What did you guys do last night that made him exhausted?" Teddy asked.

"Nothing, Teddy, nothing. Well, we almost argued." She told him, and opened a can of root beer.

"I knew it." Gordie said, and laughed.

"C'mon, at least we kept it down before his dad heard us. But of course we had to stop." She said.

"I'm glad you guys fixed that."

Chris started a rough morning, greeted by a hard blow by his dad. He must've remembered last night, as Chris thought he was able to get away from it. He looked for the guys around the town and saw them hanging out, sitting on the gutter.

"Oh, look, Chris is here." Vern said, and pointed at him from across the street. Chris approached them at sat between Gordie and Vern.

"What happened to you? Slept in?" Teddy asked.

"No. My dad didn't forget about what happened last night." Chris said, and rubbed his ribs. The boys fell silent and Gordie tried to change the mood. "Is Penny gone?"

"No, she was actually here with us a minute ago." Gordie said.

"Yeah, and she kissed us all before leaving." Vern said excitedly, rubbing his reddened cheek which Penny kissed.

"Damn." Chris murmured under his breath. "Guys, come with me."

The guys followed as they headed to Penny's house. Chris saw Penny walking to her house and unto the van, which was about to leave the house.

"Penny! Penny, wait!" Chris yelled. She looked back and saw Chris with the boys. She nervously walked to them and stared palely.

"Guys, is this one of your last minute goodbyes?" she asked uninterested.

"No, just mine." Chris said, and smiled.

"Chris Chambers, what are you so happy about? You're happy that I'm leaving now? Well, great, I shall get going now then." She said, sarcastically and started to leave.

"Hey, don't leave yet." He said, and held unto her wrists. She faced him and touched the fingers of his hand and breathed heavily.

"I'm still happy about last night." Chris said, and grinned.

"Okay, I get it." She said, her voice starting to shake.

"Hey, are you crying?" he said, and held her cheeks.

"No."

"I haven't seen you get all emotional in front of me for a while now." Chris said.

"I haven't seen you too."

"You want me to do it now?" he said, their faces getting closer and closer.

"Hey, hey, guys, we're on the streets." Gordie reminded them. The two looked at each other and grinned.

"Penny, c'mon let's go!" Johnny yelled from behind, carrying his back pack and a jacket.

"Sorry, guys, my brother's really impatient this morning." Penny said.

"Yeah, we were gonna leave anyway." Gordie said, making look at him. "So, is this goodbye?"

"Just some last words." She said. She started with Vern and told him it was a lot of fun being with him. And then with Teddy.

"Okay, Mr. Duchamp, this is the finale, and I know I'm gonna see you still all crazy twenty years from now. Don't get so boring." She said, and smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Hey, Gordie, thanks for helping me out. You'll always be Mr. Genius." She said.

"And then now who will I be?" Teddy cut in.

"Mr. Kiss-my-ass." She said, and smirked and everyone laughed. She turned to Chris, and he raised his eyebrow, expecting something.

"I love you."

"I know." He grinned, and smirked.

"Alright, now I'm serious. Listen, I know you can read that I'm gonna miss you and all those stuff. We've known each other since, and I didn't expect this is the last time I'll ever see you."

"Hey, you know there's a chance that we could see each other again. We'd all be reunited." He said, brightly and pulled her into a hug.

"I know. That's what I always think of. Well, except for the fact that it's ten or twenty years from now but I just don't want you guys to change. But if you plan to, just upgrade yourself then. You could get out of here. We could all get out of here." She said.

"I know. And you're the lucky first."

"You guys be the next and better ones."

"Penny, are coming or what?" Johnny yelled impatiently.

"Thanks for those words, Penny. You just give me something I don't know where to get." Chris said, and kissed her forehead.

She smiled at all of them and walked to the car and approached a cranky and impatient Johnny. They both entered the van and Penny sat at the very back. The car started to move and she looked back at the boys for one last time. She smiled and waved at them and they waved back. The view of four of them standing with each other made them just what great friends and boys they are. Something she doesn't know where to find in the new place she was moving to. The car sped off and she started to lose of the boys. She stared at them until they left the street.

The boys stood before her house until the car left. They all faced the empty house and at each other.

"You guys wanna get some food?" Vern asked, ending the awkward silence.

"Sure." Gordie and Teddy and started to leave. But Chris still stood, smiling.

"I'm coming. Just give me a second." He said. Thanks, Penny, for everything, he thought. He turned his back and followed the guys. Gordie smiled and gave him a playful kick in the butt. The four guys walked altogether side by side, joking and playing around just like old times. They got their old bond back, and it was still the greatest feeling and times they could ever have. Something they hope they'd never lose.

**Phew! That's it, guys. It's all done. I hope you guys like it. I just hate it when good and perfect times have to come to an end. I still feel sad right now, missing someone I don't know if I should miss. That's why I spend more time reading and writing FanFics. I just hope that I would stop being upset about him. I really miss him a lot. Anyway, please review. The final review. **


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